Study of causal structures and dynamics in history?
score:15
There is an emerging trans-disciplinary field called cliodynamics which studies these ideas. There's an open access journal, Cliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution, a lab in England, and an institute in New Mexico.
Cliometrics is somewhat related: it applies the ideas of economics to the study of history. It's been around somewhat longer, but has been criticised for applying neoclassical economic models to societies that operated by quite different rules.
Upvote:2
There is an esoteric field within History, more specifically, Historiography called, "MetaHistory"-(sometimes nicknamed, "Big History"). It is a subject which attempts to address the deeper meaning of historical causality and its relationship to historical time and reality.
Admittedly, I am no expert in this area of History, however, the study of historical causation is very much a type of sequential logic, that is to say, a leads to b and b leads to c, etc.
There is also a dialectical component to MetaHistory whereby every cause has an inherent effect. In other words, each cause leads to an effect, though when the effect ends, it generates a new cause. For example, if were to analyze the Vietnam War with this type of causal model, one could say that "The Domino Theory"-(which also was the justification for the Korean War), caused the the U.S. to invade Vietnam in 1964, whereby the effects of that war eventually led to the proliferation of the armed conflict into nearby Cambodia in 1970, thereby starting or causing a newer and wider conflict, etc.
If you were to sequence this pattern, you might say that "The Domino Theory" represents A, the U.S. invasion of Vietnam represents B and the Cambodian War represents C; each having an inherent and simultaneous cause and effect relationship.
MetaHistory is one of the more ambitious and highly abstract approaches towards understanding history and particularly, historiography. Although Historians and Historiographers, by their nature, are interested in the cause and effect of certain historical events, MetaHistory also attempts to understand such a process, though with greater chronological depth and philosophical awareness.
Upvote:5
You may find the field of "big history" relevant to your interests. David Christian's book Maps of Time is an excellent introduction. This work isn't as quantitatively oriented as what you are looking for, but you may still find it useful.
(As an aside, I can't resist echoing the warning tweeted by Neil DeGrass Tyson: "In science, when human behavior enters the equation, things go nonlinear. That's why Physics is easy and Sociology is hard.")
More post
- 📝 How did encasillado work?
- 📝 Biggest successful secret project in history?
- 📝 Why did Arthur Philip decide to move to Port Jackson two days after arriving in Botany Bay?
- 📝 A question about the definition of heresy (13th. C)
- 📝 Why did the Capetian kings of France come into conflict with the Roman church?
- 📝 What military first used fire support bases?
- 📝 Pre-columbus, what tools did Native Americans use to shave their heads and faces?
- 📝 Are there any good books in English about the mechanics of German reunification?
- 📝 What knowledge may have been lost at the Library of Alexandria?
- 📝 Who first outlawed h*m*sexuality in the Indian sub-continent?
- 📝 What went wrong with India's scientific development as a society?
- 📝 Was Roosevelt the "biggest slave trader in recorded history"?
- 📝 What was life expectancy in early medieval Britain?
- 📝 1900s Vacation between Germany and America
- 📝 Before WW2, how did Japan pay for imported US oil?
- 📝 Why was there a surge of writings about the Illuminati in America in the late 1910's?
- 📝 How was Munich Captured in WWII?
- 📝 Did the Tamil People discover that the earth was round 2000 years ago?
- 📝 Could the Russian fleet go via northern route to Port Arthur instead of via Cape of Good Hope?
- 📝 Did the US quarter shrink in size?
- 📝 Who were the Hermotybians and Calascirians mentioned as making up the warrior caste of Egypt by Herodotus
- 📝 During the Berlin Blockade, why didn't the people in West Berlin just go over to buy food in East Berlin?
- 📝 How did mid-19th century American legislation affect the corporate structure of railroad companies?
- 📝 Diaries or writings of Cathar Perfecti in 12th Century France
- 📝 Did Jeanne d'Arc really tell a woman that she couldn't serve on the battlefield?
- 📝 Where were there growing economies in dark age Europe, excluding Iberia and Constantinople?
- 📝 Around the time of Columbus, were there other failed attempts?
- 📝 Are there any examples of civilians competing with, or hindering, a military?
- 📝 Did the Allies try to "bribe" Franco to join them in World War II?
- 📝 What happens after a widespread social chaos?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Study of causal structures and dynamics in history?
- 📝 Why do we study Mughals as part of medieval history of India and European conquest as modern India?
- 📝 During the Great Depression, did the US Army do a study involving paying people to dig a hole and fill it back up?
- 📝 Is black American history only about segregation, slavery, and the 3 people you get taught about in school?
- 📝 What Roman Republican legal structures lasted into the Empire and which ones didn't?
- 📝 How accurate and balanced is Paul Johnson's 'A History of the Jews'?
- 📝 Has anyone scanned ancient structures with x-rays or similar? And if so, were any major discoveries made by doing so?
- 📝 How do the kings and important figures in history get the titles?
- 📝 What is the source and history of "green on blue attack" expression?
- 📝 Historiography and the uses of history in the Second French Empire?
- 📝 When was acne first recorded in human history and how did it develop?
- 📝 When did ancient kings, tribes etc. started to think about becoming an own part of history and act accordingly?
- 📝 Have there been known instances in history when a queen consort slept with someone other than her husband, and no one got hurt? How was that possible?
- 📝 Does History confirm that prosperity, capitalism, and some form "democracy" or representative republican form of government always go hand in hand?
- 📝 History of the Changes and Developments in Types of Urban Renewal Projects
- 📝 The history of rivalry between US and Britain in late 19th Century and early 20th Century
- 📝 What are the origins and history of shaking, trembling, jerking, contorting, collapsing, fainting and similar manifestations in Christianity?
- 📝 History of the Levant and Israel - 2000 BCE to the bronze age collapse - where to find info?
- 📝 What is the history of Research and Development laboratories?
- 📝 The history of US land grant universities and interpreting the Morrill Act
- 📝 For U.S. history 1800-1830, what was GDP by sector and industry?
- 📝 What periods and locations in early European history had evidence based criminal trials?
- 📝 What incentives were there for Soviet and Chinese politicians to try climb to the top when there was so much history of deposing their own?
- 📝 What irreplaceable manuscripts were lost in the burning of Jaffna Public Library and what history did they contain (and subsequently lost forever)?
- 📝 Has any war in recorded history ever resulted in the complete annihilation (civil and military) of an enemy - all of them killed with no survivors?
- 📝 History of ideas, and importance of, "race" as a concept in the United States?
- 📝 What are some examples of famous people in history who made big mistakes that they learnt from and this then led them to succeed?
- 📝 Is the history of relations between Ukraine and Russia similar to what was between Ireland and Uk?
- 📝 What were the main causal forces leading to rise of fascist movement and fascist government in Germany?
- 📝 Why is Germany's history of colonialism and imperialism less prominent compared to other European nations?
