In the Progress Studies movement, I am trying to cultivate an interest in studying history at a deeper level. I think this would also be relevant to EA.
If you are interested in following up, send me a private message in the Progress Studies Slack channel.
I am glad that you point to the Morgan Kelly article on potential flaws in the quantitative methods used by “Persistence” field.
Keep in mind the Persistence field is only a TINY part of the overall literature on the historical impacts on the present. Typically, the Persistence field applies heavily quantitative methods to one small region and focuses on testing whether one potential cause has statistically significant effects. Because of their methods, it should not be surprising that you come away unimpressed at the narrowness of the findings. Unfortunately, that is often how academia works.
But there has been a huge number of fantastic books which explore the historical impacts of the present using largely qualitative methods. They are, in other words, good reads about big topics. I would like to think that my book is one of the better ones.
I think that the broader literature a much better introduction to the subject that the Persistence field.
I linked to some examples in my previous comments.
I believe that my online library of 280+ books is a great resource for EA to quickly understand the basics of the literature and then figure out how they might apply it to action.
https://techratchet.com/
Here is a summary of another book that explains really well how values change over time. This book is is more relevant to the modern world than the previous listing:
https://techratchet.com/2020/02/06/book-review-cultural-evolution-peoples-motivations-are-changing-by-ronald-inglehart/
A link to an excellent review of the historical literature on the impact of history on current material conditions:
http://sites.tufts.edu/enricospolaore/files/2012/08/RootsF.pdf
As to the relation between historical material conditions and values, I would encourage you to read the following summary:
https://techratchet.com/2020/01/06/book-review-foragers-farmers-and-fossil-fuels-by-ian-morris/
Hello, I am a member of the Progress Studies community. The original poster posted in our Slack channel. I am cross-posting so you EA can see it.
There is in fact a huge and growing literature on the historical impact of current economic development. I think it is one of the most exciting trends among historian. You mentioned a few articles, but there are far more. In addition, there are dozens of awesome books that at least touch on the subject.
I want to point out that this literature is about UNDERSTANDING the present by studying the past. How ACTIONABLE the conclusions is less clear. I do believe that a study of history is the only way the we can increase our chances of making positive contributions to the future. The biggest impact is letting us understand what has been tried before and the results of those actions as best as we can tell. Even if all we learn is that an idea has been tried before and the results were poor, that is of HUGE benefit.
You seem more interested in values than material conditions. I would encourage you to expand your interests to material conditions. Material conditions strongly influence values.
I have a summary of just a few of them in my online library of book summaries. I think it is a very useful resource for EA research. In some ways, all 280 books summaries are relevant to this question.
https://techratchet.com/effects-of-history-on-economic-development-learning-path/ (edited)
“Albion’s Seed” is a fabulous book. If you are interested in how material history affects value or American history in general, it is a must read.
To save time, take a look at my summary of this book:
https://techratchet.com/2020/04/23/book-summary-albions-seed-four-british-folkways-in-america-by-david-hackett-fisher/