2023 First Exam (with correct answers).docx

**Exam in the course "The Laws of History" (27037)** **Prof. Yuval Noah Harari** **16 July 2022** **9:00 am** **Duration of Exam: 3 hours** Please answer **** out of the following 33 multiple-choice questions. Please **[clearly]** mark your chosen answer **[on the page]**. Each question is wor...

**Exam in the course "The Laws of History" (27037)** **Prof. Yuval Noah Harari** **16 July 2022** **9:00 am** **Duration of Exam: 3 hours** Please answer **** out of the following 33 multiple-choice questions. Please **[clearly]** mark your chosen answer **[on the page]**. Each question is worth 3.33 points (whenever relevant, final marks will be rounded up). If you answer more than 30 questions, only the first 30 questions you answered will be taken into account and marked. Any additional questions you answered will be ignored. Whenever in doubt, please clearly mark the answer that seems to you the **[most accurate]** from among the available options. If there are several answers that seem to you somewhat accurate, mark the one which you think is the **[most accurate]**. If no answer seems to you 100% accurate -- mark the one that seems to you the **[most accurate]**. **1. It is common to think about history as a chain of events, with each event being the outcome of a previous event, and the cause of a subsequent event. What's wrong with this view of history?** a\) In history it is usually very difficult to establish a causal connection between events. Unlike in a chain, in history you can never know whether two events are really connected or not. b\) In history each event is usually the outcome of many different previous events, and is the cause of many different subsequent events. History is therefore nothing like a single chain of events. It is more like a tree with many roots and many branches. c\) In history many events don't have any impact on subsequent events. d\) History often moves in a circle, with empires rising and then falling, or religions spreading and then splintering. It is therefore wrong to think of a history as a linear process, in which no event ever repeats itself. **2. One of the key laws of history is that there is no redemption in history. What does this law imply?** a\) It implies that the level of violence, both within states and between states, remains more or less constant throughout history. b\) It implies that in history, those who try to behave morally will inevitably lose to immoral opponents. c\) It implies that religions have caused a lot of harm to humanity, without contributing anything positive to society. d\) It implies that political or religious movements that promise to create a perfect society free of any injustice or poverty cannot fulfill that promise. **3. What is most true about the fall of the Roman Empire?** a\) Many books and Internet websites say that the Roman Empire fell in 476, but professional historians usually disagree with this statement, and instead believe that the empire fell more than a century previously. b\) Many books and Internet websites say that the Roman Empire fell in 476. However, nothing of great importance actually happened in 476, and the date was given symbolic importance only by historians writing long after the event. c\) Many books and Internet websites say that the Roman Empire fell in 476, but this is a mistake. It is true that in 476 Germanic tribes defeated the Roman army and conquered the city of Rome, but the empire didn't fall, and later in the 5^th^ century the Emperor Constantine the Great reconquered the city of Rome and made the empire bigger and more powerful than it ever was. d\) Many books and Internet websites say that the Roman Empire fell in 476, but this is a mistake, because there never really was a "Roman Empire". Only in the 8^th^ century did Byzantine emperors and scholars invent the idea of an ancient "Roman Empire" in order to give legitimacy to their new political system. **4. If several nations belong to the same civilization, it means that:** a\) They are likely to understand disease in a similar way, and react to an epidemic in a similar way. b\) They are very unlikely to fight each other. c\) They share the same language. d\) They share the same religion. **5. What is the lesson we can learn from the US invasion of Iraq about conspiracy theories?** a\) That while we may think wars are started by politicians like the US president, in fact most wars result from a conspiracy of ten powerful families that control the global economy. b\) That while relatively small and weak countries like Iraq are unable to predict and control the course of wars, superpowers like the USA can predict and control the course of wars. c\) That the people who control the course of history usually also have the ability to hide their immense power. d\) That history is very complicated, and it is therefore difficult even for a major superpower to predict and control the course of wars and other historical events. **6. Imagine that one day the kingdom of Fenwick is invaded and conquered by the Ruritanian people, who establish there the new kingdom of Ruritania. What is most likely to be true about the history of Ruritania in the following centuries?** a\) Ruritanian religion and culture will adopt some ideas and practices from the religion and culture of the destroyed kingdom of Fenwick. b\) The borders of Ruritania will remain unchanged for the next thousand years. c\) Ruritanians will remain a genetically distinct group, not absorbing any genes either from the conquered people of Fenwick or from new immigrants from neighboring countries. d\) Ruritania will manage to create a perfect society free of poverty and injustice. **7. During the First World War, Germany and France fought one another ferociously, killing millions of soldiers and civilians. What does that teach us about the history of civilizations?** a\) In the early twentieth century Germany and France belonged to two different civilizations, but the war helped merge them into a single European civilization. b\) Two nations that belong to the same civilization may well fight each other with extreme violence. c\) The concept of "civilization" was invented after the First World War, and is not really helpful in trying to understand events that happened during or before that war. d\) When nations belong to different civilizations, they rarely influence one another. **8. According to Norman Cohn's *The Pursuit of the Millennium*, what are millenarian movements?** a\) They are movements that believe in the possibility of historical redemption, and seek to change the fundamental dynamics of human societies. b\) They are movements that believe humans cannot change the fundamental dynamics of history, and instead hope to achieve salvation in the afterlife. c\) They are movements that seek to return humanity to the conditions that existed in the first millennium BCE, before the rise of Monotheistic religions. d\) They are secular movements that oppose religious ways of thinking and hope to establish secular societies on the basis of modern scientific theories. **9. What is true about the level of international violence in the world after 1945?** a\) The level of international violence increased after 1945 due to the spread of a new militaristic culture. b\) The level of international violence declined after 1945 due to changes in human biology that caused humans to be less aggressive. c\) The level of international violence declined after 1945 because economic and technological innovations reduced the potential economic benefits of winning wars. d\) The level of international violence since 1945 has remained more or less the same as it was before, because violence depends on human biology, and nothing significant changed in human biology since 1945. **10. What is true about the life and influence of Jesus:** a\) Jesus was the author of most of the books of the New Testament. b\) Stories about Jesus that spread after his death had a much bigger impact on history than anything Jesus did during his lifetime. c\) Jesus wanted to establish a new religion, but after his death his immediate disciples changed his message, and presented him as just a Jewish rabbi who wanted to reform Judaism rather than establish a new religion. d\) The first historical sources about Jesus were written only about 300 years after his death, so it is impossible to say anything certain about his life, and scholars are not even sure that he really existed. **11. Which of the following best describes the relations between Jews and Greeks during the Second Temple era?** a\) Jews and Greeks initially belonged to separate nations, but they eventually merged to form a single nation, which spoke Aramaic and which created the Christian religion. b\) There were many clashes between Jews and Greeks, which turned them into implacable enemies. Anything Greek was totally rejected by the Jews, and anything Jewish was totally rejected by the Greeks. c\) There were many clashes between Jews and Greeks, but Jews also adopted many ideas and practices from the Greeks, such as searching for the truth by having several wise people use logic to debate each other. d\) Jews had a profound impact on the Greeks, and Greek philosophy, politics and language developed under Jewish influence, whereas Greeks had little or no impact on Jewish ideas and practices. **12. What is the most certain thing we can say about the course of history from 10,000 years ago till today:** a\) The average size of political units tended to grow bigger over time. b\) Major empires rose and fell in repeated cycles, each cycle lasting on average 700 years. c\) The center of global power shifted repeatedly between East and West, with the last such shift occurring in 1492, when power shifted from the East to the West. d\) Total world population rose and fell, with major epidemics repeatedly reducing the total world population to about the same size every 1,500 years. The last such population crash occurred in the mid-14^th^ century with the Black Death. **13. A simplistic story about the Jewish people says that the Jews were expelled by the Roman Empire from the Holy Land, and always wanted to return there, but were forcefully prevented by subsequent empires from returning to the Holy Land, until the rise of Zionism in the late nineteenth century. This story is inaccurate, as can be seen from which of the following facts:** a\) The Mameluke and Ottoman Empires allowed Jews to live in the Holy Land, and while some Jewish refugees expelled from Spain in 1492 settled there, most chose to settle elsewhere. b\) Christianity began as a Jewish sect, but subsequently became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. c\) The Jewish people did not originate in the Holy Land, and even according to the biblical narrative the first Jews lived in either Mesopotamia or Egypt. d\) After it conquered the Holy Land from the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire allowed many Jews to emigrate and settle there. **14. According to what we studied in this course, when does the history of the United States begin?** a\) In 1776, when 13 British colonies in North America declared their independence from Britain. b\) In 1619, when the first African slaves were brought to the British colony of Virginia. c\) In 1492, when Columbus reached the continent of America. d\) There are several reasonable answers to this question, each conveying a different ideological and political message. **15. When people believe that historical redemption is possible, how does it tend to influence politics?** a\) People who believe in historical redemption tend to accept the power of traditional religious authorities, which therefore stabilizes the existing political institutions. b\) People who believe in historical redemption tend to object to rapid political revolutions. c\) People who believe in historical redemption tend to believe in impossible political promises and projects, which often lead to violence. d\) People who believe in historical redemption expect God to intervene in history, and therefore make few efforts to make political changes by themselves. **16. Most historians of Nazi Germany claim that it was ruled by a very small number of people like Hitler, Himmler and Goebbels, who controlled not just the political system, but also the army, the courts, the newspapers, and the universities. Can this claim be regarded as a conspiracy theory?** a\) It is not a conspiracy theory, because the truth is that Nazi Germany was actually ruled by a group of several rich families that we know little about, and this group used Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and the Nazi party as a smokescreen to hide its power and deceive the public. b\) It is not a conspiracy theory, because Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels and the other Nazi leaders never concealed their power, and Nazi propaganda constantly presented them as the absolute rulers of Germany. c\) It is indeed a typical conspiracy theory, because it claims that a small number of people controlled almost everything. d\) It is indeed a typical conspiracy theory, because Nazism was the source of most present-day conspiracy theories. **17. What was the typical structure of archaic human societies more than 100,000 years ago?** a\) Archaic humans lived in small bands, numbering perhaps a few dozen individuals, which had little contact with other bands. b\) Archaic humans lived in tribes numbering many thousands of people, which tended to fight other tribes, but also traded with them from time to time. c\) Archaic humans lived in tribes numbering many thousands of people, and several tribes that had particular close contacts with one another constituted a nation. d\) Archaic humans lived as isolated individuals, with each person having almost no contact with other humans. **18. A key difference between history and chemistry is that:** a\) In chemistry it is possible to repeat the same experiment again and again. In history that is usually impossible. b\) In chemistry there are known facts that all professional chemists accept. In history there are few if any such facts. c\) The study of chemistry has ethical implications, whereas the study of history usually has no ethical implications. d\) Chemistry is of great interest to politicians and generals because it helps them produce explosives, fertilizers and other tools useful for building countries and armies, whereas history is of little interest to politicians and generals because it doesn't offer much help in building countries and armies. **19. The law that "there are no beginnings" implies that:** a\) There are no facts in history. b\) Even though there are facts in history, historians are seldom able to know these facts or agree on them. c\) To understand a particular historical event, we must always know something about prior events. d\) All historical events have the same importance and the same impact on future developments. **20. Some people say that the struggle between rival nations is similar to the struggle between rival animal species. How accurate is this comparison?** a\) It is quite accurate. Just as the unique character of each animal species has been shaped by millions of years of evolution, so the unique character of each human nation is also shaped by millions of years of evolution. b\) It is not accurate. Animal species often go extinct after a few generations, whereas human nations tend to survive for far longer periods. c\) It is not accurate. Different animal species almost never merge with one another to form a single new species, whereas human nations occasionally do merge with one another to form a single new nation. d\) It is not accurate. Animal species evolve over time, which might change their key characteristics quite dramatically, whereas human nations change far less, and tend to retain some unchanging essence throughout their existence. **21. If you go back to the year 1023, how many ancestors did you probably have at that time?** a\) One. b\) Two -- one male and one female. c\) At least several thousand, and probably several million. d\) It is impossible to know for sure. Some people may have had only one or two ancestors, whereas other people may have had millions. **22. When professional historians write a book about the history of Turkey, they should:** a\) Think carefully about how they open the book, because choosing a particular opening scene often conveys important ideological and political messages. b\) Avoid opening the book with reference to any specific historical events, because this will inevitably distort people's understanding of Turkish history. c\) They should open the book by outlining the genetic composition of the present-day population of Turkey, because this is the most scientific and accurate source we have about the origins of the Turkish nation. d\) They should outline the natural borders of Turkey -- rivers, mountains and seas -- because the geography of a country usually determines its history. **23. When we try today to understand how people felt and thought during the First World War, one difficulty we need to overcome is that:** a\) People back then had different genes than we do. b\) People back then had a different brain structure than we do. c\) People back then were shaped by fictional stories about the past, while we are not shaped by such stories. d\) People back then didn't know how the war would end, while we do know how it ended. **24. When a country is divided into hostile tribes that hate each other, which of the following is the [least] likely outcome:** a\) That the country will split into several separate countries. b\) That the country will experience a civil war. c\) That the country will become a brutal dictatorship. d\) That the country will maintain a stable democratic system. **25. How was the Roman Empire in the year 400 CE different from the Roman Empire in the year 1 CE?** a\) It was dominated by a different state religion. b\) It had a different capital city. c\) It had a different ruling dynasty. d\) All of the above. **26. What is the impact of Roman political ideas on modern politics?** a\) Roman political ideas have had a profound impact both on modern republican traditions and modern imperial traditions, and even the terms "republic" and "empire" are derived from the Roman terms *Res Publica* and *Imperium*. b\) Roman political ideas have influenced the structure and practices of religious institutions like the Catholic Church that still exist today, but they have had no significant impact on secular politics. c\) Roman political ideas have played a key role in shaping modern Italian nationalism and Italian fascism, and have also influenced other far-right movements like Nazism, but they have had no significant impact on the democratic traditions of other countries like the USA or Israel. d\) Roman political ideas have had no significant impact on modern politics. **27. The story of Dracula is a good illustration of which historical phenomenon?** a\) That vampires really existed in certain historical periods. b\) That historical personalities may be cast long after their death into roles that they themselves could hardly have imagined. c\) That the level of human violence remains more or less constant throughout history. d\) That nations tend to have a fixed national character that hardly changes much even after hundreds of years. **28. How many immigrants can a country absorb in a year without triggering a major political crisis?** a\) About 1% of its total population. b\) About 10% of its total population. c\) For most of history the answer was about 1% of the total population, but in recent decades due to economic and cultural changes some countries have managed to absorb up to 10% of their population. d\) There is no fixed answer to this question. It depends on the prior history of the country, the context of the current wave of immigration, and many other factors. **29. There is a conspiracy theory that the pyramids were built by aliens, and that Egyptologists hide this fact from the public. Why is it very unlikely that this conspiracy theory is true?** a\) Because it is extremely rare that scientists have an incentive to hide or distort the truth. b\) Because if the pyramids were indeed built by aliens, Egyptologists would have had a strong incentive to reveal this to the public, since it would have brought Egyptologists a lot of prestige and financial investments. c\) Because we don't have enough evidence from ancient Egypt to know with a high degree of certainty whether the pyramids were built by humans or by some kind of alien intelligence. d\) Because it is a scientific impossibility that intelligent life forms could develop outside planet Earth. **30. What characterizes relations between rival cultures in history?** a\) Rival cultures tend to fight each other until one culture annihilates its rival. b\) Rival cultures are often influenced by one another even when they fight, and might occasionally merge to form a single bigger culture. c\) Rival cultures try to have as little contact with one another as possible. d\) Rival cultures are usually the product of a single more ancient culture that split up into smaller segments. **31. Prior to the British conquest and colonization of Australia in the 18^th^ and 19^th^ centuries, Australia was:** a\) Inhabited by hunter-gatherers who all belonged to a single large tribe. b\) Inhabited by farmers who were divided into about a dozen kingdoms. c\) Inhabited by hunter-gatherers who belonged to a large number of different and sometimes rival tribes. d\) Totally uninhabited by humans. **32. Historians who try to understand Brazilian history in the 20^th^ century are [MOST] likely to study:** a\) The changes in the relative positions of the planets of the solar system during the 20^th^ century. b\) The main events of Brazilian history in the 19^th^ century. c\) The evolution of the unique animals and plants of Brazil over the last several million years. d\) The movement of the tectonic plates that shaped Brazilian geography tens of millions of years ago. **33. Nationalism goes against many evolutionary tendencies, because:** a\) It asks people to sometimes prefer the interests of foreigners from a different country over the interests of their own friends and family. b\) It asks people to sometimes prefer the interests of friends and family over the interests of foreigners from a different country. c\) It asks people to sometimes prefer the interests of friends and family over the interests of strangers they never met in their life. d\) It asks people to sometimes prefer the interests of strangers they never met in their life over the interests of their own friends and family.