The most important thing, ever
By way of the ever vigilant Kottke I found that The Economist’s Intelligent Life sister magazine is asking the absolutely ludicrous, but also entertaining question “what was the most important year, ever?”
It seems to me that what they’re really asking is: what’s the most important event in human history? Any year that contained this event is likely to win. Of course, it could be that a cluster of events collectively outdo any single event, and so their year wins, but how likely is it that more than one changing-the-fundamental-course-of-history event happened in one year? Consequently, I’m thinking we’re looking for one happening.
I probably don’t have to spell out all the things wrong with asking that question. I’ve said before that one of the funniest things I know is when someone puts a number to a quality that can’t be quantified (yeah, my humor is decidedly geeky). The most important year or happening in human history is almost certainly the kind of question that is too ill-defined, subjective, elusive and unquantifiable to reach any kind of definite answer. But the point is not the answer, it’s the discussion that the question will (hopefully) engender. I’m also aware of the fact that treaties could be written on the subject without fully exploring even the surface of this question, because the question touches on basically everything that’s ever happened that is of consequence to humans, but what the hell, short answers can be entertaining too.
With that in mind, I’m going to outdo Intelligent Life and ask the more fundamental question they seem to be circling around. In a bit, I’ll leave the floor to you, in the hopes that some of you will answer, so I don’t look like a fool, but first, I’m going to make a few largely arbitrary rules to make it all a bit more manageable:
- Since this question springs from a “most important year” discussion, the event must be something we can date to within a year. This means the taming of fire or the invention of the wheel are out, as well as everything else that happened before the beginning of recorded history. It also means any event, period, person or movement that happened over a time period longer than a year is out. Their beginning, end, or important parts of them are in the running, so long as they can be put in a single year. WWII lasted six years, so it’s out, but its beginning or end are uncontroversially located in given years, so they’re in.
- The question is posed universally: what’s the most important thing for humanity, not for any given person or country. You are free to answer subjectively — as if any answer to this question could be made objective — but keep in mind we’re looking at the importance of events for humanity, all of it, not just a subset of it, however large.
- Importance, however you interpret it, is value neutral. Good deeds, bad deeds, neutral events — their importance is to be judged independently of your disapproval or approval of it. We are looking for whatever had the most profound consequences, negative or positive, on humanity as a whole.
With those things in mind: 1776, really? What was Andrew Marr, author of the Intelligent Life article, thinking? He says he’s looking for a “universally important year”, as I’m looking for a universally important event, and he goes and suggests 1776. The American revolution was not the most important event in all of recorded history, believe it or not. It was a pivotal moment in American history, certainly, and given the US’s current position in the world, it had important consequences, but no, it was not the most important event ever, and so its year doesn’t deserve to win on its merits alone.
As for my candidate, I’m far more sure about what isn’t the most important event than what is. That’s why I’m asking, hoping some interesting and/or witty thoughts will come with the answers: what’s the most important event in recorded history?
