Great Divergence

The Big Debates

Most thoughtful people carry around a thin version of macro history — hunter-gatherers, agriculture, bronze and iron, the classical and axial ages, the scientific and industrial revolutions, modern growth. This site is an attempt to render the thick version of the four debates that anchor that arc, with the disputes in full color.

Debate	Question	Status
The Industrial Revolution	Why did sustained per-capita growth begin in late-18th-century Britain rather than somewhere else, sometime else?	First slice — in progress
The Great Divergence	Why did northwestern Europe pull decisively ahead of China, India, and the Ottoman world starting around 1500–1800?	Planned
The Scientific Revolution	Why did the systematic, cumulative method we now call “modern science” emerge in early-modern Europe?	Planned
Growth & Convergence	Why have some poor countries caught up since 1950 while others stagnated or fallen further behind?	Planned

Each debate is mapped the same way: a one-sentence question, a position map (the live schools of thought with one-line theses), the cruxes where the schools actually clash, the meta-debate, and a curated reading list. Each Position page lays out the thesis, lead proponents, the evidence marshalled, and the major critiques.

See the conventions (or README.md in the repo) for the node-type taxonomy and citation format.