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- Big Think Interview With Niall Ferguson
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A conversation with the Harvard University historian.
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NIALL FERGUSON:
Niall Ferguson, MA, D.Phil., is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Center for European Studies, Harvard, where he served for 12 years as the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History. He is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.
He is the author of 14 books. His first, Paper and Iron: Hamburg Business and German Politics in the Era of Inflation 1897-1927, was short-listed for the History Today Book of the Year award, while the collection of essays he edited, Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals, was a UK bestseller. In 1998 he published to international critical acclaim The Pity of War: Explaining World War One and The World’s Banker: The History of the House of Rothschild. The latter won the Wadsworth Prize for Business History and was also short-listed for the Jewish Quarterly/Wingate Literary Award and the American National Jewish Book Award.
His latest book is The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook (2017).
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TRANSCRIPT:
Question: What was your early history education like?
Niall Ferguson: When I was a schoolboy in Glasgow, I suppose I was treated to the usual smorgasbord of historical subjects that most British school children study. A few weeks of the Romans, a few weeks of ancient Britains, some Scottish history, and then it became a little bit more serious. The Wars of the Roses, the Reign of James the VI and I, what was then called the English Civil War, or Revolution, but these days they call it something much fancier like the British Civil Wars (plural). And I studied the 19th and 20th centuries at school too. I’m not sure all of these different things were terribly well connected, but I did find myself drawn more and more to the subject the older I got. And the turning point, I think was the year-and I’m guessing my age was 15 or 16-when I was studying Hamlet in English Literature, and the 30 Years War in history. Now the study of the play, Hamlet, is something that everybody should undertake, and I still have fond memories of the essay I wrote on the theme of death in Hamlet.
But when I was studying the 30 Years War, I was encouraged by my history teacher, Bonnie Woods, to go to the Mitchell Library, which is a wonderful library in Glasgow. And I went in, in search of books on the 30 Years War and was absolutely stunned to find an entire shelf of books on the 30 Years War; the first of which was by Friedrich Schiller, the great German sturm und drang dramatist and historian. And it was the realization that there were so many different ways of thinking about the 30 Years War as opposed to the one play of Shakespeare called Hamlet that shifted my attention from English to History.
Question: What is the value of historical perspective?
Niall Ferguson: Historical study differs from a great many other things; say the whole realm of the social sciences for two reasons. Firstly, we’re not engaged in model building. We’re not trying to simply the world of human beings into some kind of mathematical model. Historians live and breathe the complexity of the past and we accept that there really is a sample size of one. There’s only one human history and we can’t rerun it in any laboratory, so we can’t be engaged in a scientific endeavor. The second thing that history does is that it encourages that minority of human beings who are alive, I think it’s only 7% of human beings who ever lived who are alive right now, to understand what the other 93% experienced in their time.
So, historians build a bridge backwards through the generations, and at the heart of our enterprise is the imagination. One has to imagine what it was to be in another time, in another predicament. And that active imagination is at the heart of the historical process. The great philosopher, R.G. Collingwood said, “We are engaged in reconstructing past thought on the basis of those remnants that other civilizations leave behind; the letters, the documents.” That’s really what history is.
So, this combination of understanding complexity and reimagining past life seems to me to be a tremendously valuable combination of skills...
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Big Think I would like to get smart for the future(s) “ plural “ ehhh 😂
Historians are the best:-D they have a general knowledge about everything, military, politics, economy, culture, geography, sociology.. and they know the development of these areas over the time, not just the most recent state.
He's off the charts terrific- as a DuPont winning and Prime Time Emmy nommed documentary filmmaker since 1985, I feel qualified to say that every one of his series is a work of art... pure joy to watch.
Have you guys seen Civilisation by Kenneth Clark? Damn fine stuff too.
Niall Ferguson is off the charts terrific.
As a DuPont winning and Prime Time Emmy nommed documentary filmmaker since 1985, I feel qualified to say that every one of his series is a work of art...
a pure joy to watch.
The War of the World
The Ascent of Money
Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World
China: Triumph and Turmoil
Civilization: Is the West History
+Timothy Flood You've been blocked and reported to TH-cam for conduct policy violation. I would suggest that you look at my home page.
GO Niall! Good to have you on our side!
what's "our side"?????
He's right wing, anti EU.
Hahaha, he supported Remain.
Only because Britain had built a strong and influential position for herself in the EU
Lrz Sct Which it willfully abandoned. What's your point?
I may not agree with Niall Ferguson on some points, and I may find other historians to be more accurate, shall we say, or more thorough, and less politically ideological (which is always best in a historian), but there are some things he comes up with which have me reaching deep into my library.
For instance, Ferguson gives the following six reasons as to why the West emerged ahead of what he calls "the rest" from the mid-sixteenth century onwards:
1. Competition
2. Science
3. Citizenship based on property ownership and representation
4. Medicine
5. Consumer society (or, as he says as much, industry)
6. Work ethic
Now, if you look up Edwin Seligman's 1902 joint address to the American Historical and American Economic Associations, you will find that Seligman listed five of the above six items as reasons for maintaining a positive outlook on the future of the United States. The only difference is that instead of "work ethic", Seligman writes about the happy consequences of the practical exhaustion of freely available land - and even that is mentioned only to emphasize the rise of labor as a positive force, or "work ethic".
So, coincidence? Or is Ferguson - who, as a historian, must be familiar with Seligman's address - borrowing lavishly from a renowned thinker of the Gilded Age without referencing him (the ultimate sin in scholarship!)? Furthermore, since Seligman outlined the six items as reasons to be cheerful for the future of the United States, what, in borrowing them, might be Ferguson's deeper intention, and to whom might he be addressing it?
This dude is right on many points.
+Chu Kim He is the smartest tool in the shed. :)
The War of the World
The Ascent of Money
Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World
China: Triumph and Turmoil
Civilization: Is the West History
Terrifyingly smart.
It's nice to see intelligent discussions in a comments section on youtube.
My experience is that you need an understanding of economics to understand history. Whenever an ignorant historian stumbles into economic concepts he screws up and gets everything wrong. Human history is largely a history of exchange.
Really interesting perspective
Interesting 6 apps! I fully agree on the competition factor and I personally believe culture inheritance is another very important app that drives political reform. A newly established dynamic countries like US, Canada or Australia are much more feasible for political reformation vs. ancient civilizations like China, India, Egypt and Mesopotamia.
He reminds me the actor of the beautiful mind. He looks the same, so charismatic.
Very interesting.
Cool "Trout" avatar. I bought that album back in 1971 and a thief with good taste ripped it off in 1973
"This is not triumphalism, it is an exercise in comparative history" - Did you watch this video? He does not "legitimize" it is merely attempt to understand how. How. Not should this be right, but how this came to be.
This guy will destroy Chomsky at any debate on Western Power.
But not being Niall Ferguson, we cannot experience the sheer pleasure of being Niall Ferguson.
fascinating storytelling
feature of western "ascendancy" ("killer Aps"): 1. competition in western cultures 2. scientific revolution in mathematics 3. citizenship based on property and representation form of governance (law made by these modes) 4. modern medicine (germ)pseudo science of race (shadow side) 5. consumer society - spreading 6. spiritual paradigm of materialism (protestant ethic/etc.)
scholars and writers like St. Augustine, St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great, who came up with the calendar. By discussing the about the Dark Ages as a time of total dismay is wrong as proven above. 1492 was a good year indeed. The Anglo-Saxon Model of economics is an interesting model because that starts with the father of economics Adam Smith. Was Smith wrong in his assertions, aulusmagnus?
I'm a big fan a Ferguson.
7% of all human beings ever born are alive at the moment. To me that sounds like an amazing statement. Is there any reference for it?
Population reference bureau
you didn't understood what he meant by agreeing with the iraq war. he explained even before the iraq war that empires used to have a long breath and especially the US democracy is politically to short sighted in comparison, always wanting quick results and stoping big projects after only 3 to 4 years. he also explained what the US did wrong and why the US failed to get the iraq back on tracks. something the british managed quite well only 80 years earlier.
source..?
Brilliant - and sad this needs to be said now that History is often deleted from contemporary education!
Hey Big Think please add some subtitles in spanish. Remember that spanish is the second most spoken language
As a historian, I can assure you that Niall Ferguson really isn't that well liked in the academic community at all :p
oh..how so very original
Also, another killer app I think is the language and accepted code of interaction, at least in asian region where people have to curtail themselves much more hevaily than people in western culture, and much less direct exchange of ideas in asian cultures. (all contextual instead of spoken outloud)
I admire Chomsky but I agree with you.
God I love this stuff we really need this kind of talk in mainstream or is the general population generally too stupid to understand it.
Actually you are wrong and I will prove that in this rebuttal. European history speaks of the time between the end of the Roman times to the Renaissance as being known as the Dark Ages. Although, these ages were called that there was a lot of change and also a lot of different events that did indeed occur. For instance, many of the educated were monks and or clergy who wrote histories of the Roman Catholic Church. One particular writer and scholar was Eusebius. Also there was many other Catholic
Ryno Steffy the development of rational philosophy during medieval times was essential for the scientific revolution
For your information, Antwerp is located in Belgium, not in the Netherlands, so apparantly, it was even too much effort to look that up on wikipedia, so why would you have any knowledge about the quality of universities in the Netherlands or anywhere else
Also, 22 is the normal age to obtain a master degree in Belgium, since it's a 4 year degree, starting at eighteen
I think you judge him to harshly. you might not agree with him but that doesn't mean he is wrong. his books are celebrated by many professionals for giving new insights and showing real sources and making logical arguments beyond the usual and sometimes wrong prejudices and simple explanations) that nobody can argue against since logic can't be disproved. you may add something that he missed or point out wrong premisses but I challenge you to try it and see how much cleverer you are than he is.
Me too :)
I'm pretty sure more books have been written on Hamlet than on the 30 years war Niall...
Yes, I have an interest in music and guitars, firearms, videogames etc. (I do not know on what ground you claim that I follow young girls on youtube...) Since I use youtube mainly for entertainment, this is reflected on my account. Does that provide enough basis for concluding that I am a 17 year old teenager. Absolutely not. In fact, I am 22 years old, and recently obtained my masters degree in history (University of Antwerp)
So in the end vote for mitt romney.
Superman can go back in time right? trivial I know
And by entitlement am sure you mean that of the rich and powerful who as you admitted in the beginning of representative governance carried all the influence and thereby direction of political decision making?
I'd say that goes for people who say the word "bellends," too.
So it’s not Niall Horan?
There definitely is a wrong answer, oppression (communism, socialism, crony capitalism, fascism, dictatorships, monarchies, over regulated markets, corporate subsidies, etc.)
Chomsky is good but I disagree with him on many issues
Next James Bond?
We'll nothing and everything depending on how you look at it. Chomsky used to have real principal when he was younger but lately within the last couple decades he has been doing some very bizarre things like defending Latin American socialism like Venezuela even though the currency is projected to collapse in months and defends fascist regimes that once toppled other fascist regimes because it was American backed. Hypocritical? yup and Hitchens even said the same thing about how hes gone off
Christopher Hitchens is the last person to talk about Chomsky having "gone off" !
Brilliant historian :)
Evolution theory; for instance based on demographics; sure provides in a scientific model for understanding human history.
The Population Reference Bureau estimates that over 100 billion people have been born within the last 52,000 years. That means roughly 7% of the world's total population is alive today. Of course, if you were only talking about humans born within the period of "written history," thereby excluding figures which might fall under the realm of "archaeology," the number would be slightly different, but nowhere near >90%.
:P for now. let history take its course and see how america fares.
one major point: WWI germany was going to defeat britain save for the US, if china and the US go to war, who would save the US? maybe india? eu conglomeration? serious question that he has ignored
Bright + Handsome = Niall Ferguson
lol I don't think so.
just wait some years and you will find in you pocket a dutch passport. you already live in holland it's only a matter of time for politics to catch up.
you might want to use a different approach to this. Mishra accused ferguson of racism and is an advocate of a guild culture that is more radical than ferguson himself. accusing westerners of being evil and racists and at the same time denying that empires and colonialism were an important part of the path towards our modern world is not historically funded, nor are there any sources for it apart from angry "victims" who in reality just blaming their 'nations' failings on others, like always.
who said philosophers aren`t needed?
Dr Who?
Trying to be capitalist while trying to maintain a semblance of command communist economy leads to governance issues.
loool
Pompous.
@Crouchy232323, I bet you put cones on statues.
"when Hume invented Capitalism" lolololololololo
Swagato Barman Roy At least have the intelligence to not deactivate replies to your posts since you asked a question.
Watch this video: Distilled Demographics: How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?
BTW your post is:"7% of all human beings ever born are alive at the moment. To me that sounds like an amazing statement. Is there any reference for it?"
PS: I hate laziness specially gray matter one.
Nice "ad hominem attack"
Soooooooo slooooowwwwww. Ohh god!
+William Baker I practically watch everything at 2X now, even Slavoj Zizek. It's shocking how slow human speech is.
LOL, never thought about that!
in putin`s Russia they would jail him
When one finds the flaws in Adam Smith - 'The Wealth Of Nations' you find the flaws in Niall Ferguson's argument.
you are not a historian. you follow young girls on youtube and you watch crash course videos. you have no idea what 'academic' means you spend your time watching gun videos as well as assassin creed and guitar videos. there is no historian with your name and I bet everything, just by looking at your channel, that you are not older than 17yr old.
What does his alleged support of South American socialism have to do with his knowledge of Western Powers? Try to walk around the ad hominem puddle, please.
Are you not going to respond and try and back up your silly statement that Hume invented capitalism? Or are you going to spew another torrent of pointless words without addressing relevant facts?
Again, Ferguson = shill.