The truth is that we do not know why a few years in the early half of the sixth century turned very cold. We can guess from some historical documents of the time that some volcano erupted, but we have no identifiable volcano on which we can put a marker that reads, “Eruption here in 535 cooled the planet.” By the nineteenth century, we had sufficient reports from around the world to know that a similar cooling, one that produced “The Year without a Summer,” was the product of Mount Tambora’s eruption in 1815 that threw sunlight blocking ash into the stratosphere just a year after Mount Mayon erupted. But as for that earlier cooling, we’re lost for an identifiable cause.
Of course, people will keep looking at clues that might indicate or even prove a cause of the cooling. Someone might find a link between the cooling and, say, a volcano east of Papua New Guinea or one in either Central or South America. Five thirty-six is long gone, so why do we care?
Maybe we hope to derive a lesson about natural Earth processes. Maybe it’s a matter of solving a puzzle. Maybe fame is involved: “Scientist Discovers Culprit in Cooling at Beginning of the Middle Ages.” Or maybe we want someone to make history as we know it to make sense, to be the product of logically derived, identifiable steps. Is there a connection between the natural world and large historical changes? We do like to know why things are the way they are. What if that cooling helped to initiate a worldwide cultural change? What if that cooling was a partial cause of the so-called Medieval Period?
We divide history conveniently: Ancient, medieval, and modern. Of course, we debate the starting causes and dates, and we argue over whether any one of the three categories is anything more than a handy construct. Experts in thirteenth century history, for example, might argue that modernism grew there; historians of the subsequent two centuries might pose similar arguments. In each argument a set of clues drives the discussion, but to have meaning all clues require an imposition of value. Can we assign a value to the cooling in the early sixth century? Was it the beginning of the Medieval Period?
So it is with you. Is there some big physical event that altered your life’s path? An injury, a sickness, a recovery? Is there something external to your body that changed your way of life, some Chernobyl-like event, a Katrina, an earthquake, landslide, or eruption? An injury or death of a loved one? A change in location? Have you undergone your own “year without a summer”?
Or is there some intangible that marks personal turning points? Maybe some spiritual awakening? An obvious advance in maturation? The acquisition of knowledge? What are the clues to who you are?
Whether or not some event external to your personal sphere of control or one for which you are personally responsible caused a life-altering change is a question worth asking if you want to understand who you are. Yet, regardless of any search through clues, there will always be some mystery. Some events and influences occurred before you were mature enough to be self-aware, and those human influences or physical processes are not now accessible.
In short, as we have clues but no identifiable cause for the cooling of 535-536, you have some clues but no identifiable cause for some of what you are. Tracing out the clues, however, is a lifelong task that can be rewarding: “Person Discovers Answers to Personal History, Wins Self-knowledge Trophy.”
What will clues about your own history lead you to discover about yourself?
Of course, people will keep looking at clues that might indicate or even prove a cause of the cooling. Someone might find a link between the cooling and, say, a volcano east of Papua New Guinea or one in either Central or South America. Five thirty-six is long gone, so why do we care?
Maybe we hope to derive a lesson about natural Earth processes. Maybe it’s a matter of solving a puzzle. Maybe fame is involved: “Scientist Discovers Culprit in Cooling at Beginning of the Middle Ages.” Or maybe we want someone to make history as we know it to make sense, to be the product of logically derived, identifiable steps. Is there a connection between the natural world and large historical changes? We do like to know why things are the way they are. What if that cooling helped to initiate a worldwide cultural change? What if that cooling was a partial cause of the so-called Medieval Period?
We divide history conveniently: Ancient, medieval, and modern. Of course, we debate the starting causes and dates, and we argue over whether any one of the three categories is anything more than a handy construct. Experts in thirteenth century history, for example, might argue that modernism grew there; historians of the subsequent two centuries might pose similar arguments. In each argument a set of clues drives the discussion, but to have meaning all clues require an imposition of value. Can we assign a value to the cooling in the early sixth century? Was it the beginning of the Medieval Period?
So it is with you. Is there some big physical event that altered your life’s path? An injury, a sickness, a recovery? Is there something external to your body that changed your way of life, some Chernobyl-like event, a Katrina, an earthquake, landslide, or eruption? An injury or death of a loved one? A change in location? Have you undergone your own “year without a summer”?
Or is there some intangible that marks personal turning points? Maybe some spiritual awakening? An obvious advance in maturation? The acquisition of knowledge? What are the clues to who you are?
Whether or not some event external to your personal sphere of control or one for which you are personally responsible caused a life-altering change is a question worth asking if you want to understand who you are. Yet, regardless of any search through clues, there will always be some mystery. Some events and influences occurred before you were mature enough to be self-aware, and those human influences or physical processes are not now accessible.
In short, as we have clues but no identifiable cause for the cooling of 535-536, you have some clues but no identifiable cause for some of what you are. Tracing out the clues, however, is a lifelong task that can be rewarding: “Person Discovers Answers to Personal History, Wins Self-knowledge Trophy.”
What will clues about your own history lead you to discover about yourself?
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