What Can Happen In Thousands Of Years?

The previous post, about Poul Anderson's first future history, was linked to posts about his last future history. And how different they are.

In the linked post, "Reflections On History" (see here), we said that Laurinda Ashcroft summarized some history. Now let us consider that history in slightly greater detail.

The Neolithic Revolution:

tamed wilderness;
fed larger populations;
founded towns;
built smithies;
changed hunters into peasants under god-kings.

The Pharaohs were buried and their tombs were plundered;
the Persian Empire split, then fell to Alexander, who died young;
his empire disintegrated into a long bloodbath;
four centuries after Jesus, Christians killed each other;
in Japan, peace gave way to incessant conflicts;
in China, dynasties bloodily succeeded each other;
Mongols ruled half a continent for a few generations;
one remnant became Tsardom;
another bore Islam into India;
Spaniards conquered Aztec and Inca;
trans-Atlantic wealth energized northern Europe but Spain became tyrannical and corrupt;
the French Revolution produced Napoleon;
Sun Yat-sen led to Chiang Kai-shek and Mao;
modern weapons destroyed four empires, tens of millions of lives and the spiritual foundations of Western civilization;
there was a Second World War, a Cold War and wars between new nations;
science and superstition coexisted;
global communication speeded social fragmentation;
new technologies rehabilitated the environment;
we do not know what will happen next.

Poul Anderson, Genesis (New York, 2001), PART ONE, V, 2, pp. 50-51.