My greatest regret is that I didn't learn more history in school. I don't have the kind of brain that is good at retaining things like dates and numbers, but images and patterns are my strong suit. I have a "Times Atlas of World History" that I get a lot of use from, and the internet provides a lot of information if you know where to look and are watchful for "filtered" results.

It's naturally human to look around you and see the status quo as something that ought to be eternal. One of the great secrets of government is that, almost more than anything else in the world, people want stability, but that's a whole different thread.

Of course, history isn't static, and everything changes.

I remember a TV show "Highlander." Didn't watch a lot of them--no time--but there was one character that, unlike most of the combative immortals, was sitting out the battle. He was thousands of years old, and incredibly laid back about almost everything. Alone among humans he truly knew the truth of "this too, shall pass."

History looks so inevitable viewed in hindsight. Even in our own lifetimes. It's hard to see now that back during WWII, our victory was anything but certain, and a few decisions made differently might have made the world a very different place.

I'd like to see a map like this made for the environment, mapped over maybe thirty thousand years. Might show a little perspective there, too.