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Why do we study history? What do we learn from it? Is there any revelence in our daily life to what happened in a distant land many eons ago?
A quote from Spike Milligan “Is it because with the future unknown, the present traumatic, that we find the past so secure?”
Do we think knowing the past can somehow change the future? Or does it just make us more comfortable knowing we are not as bad off as the media would have us believe?
Is it just human nature to need to know our past..our ancestors...our original homeland and heritage? Thoughts...
I have no idea why *we* do anything. I learn about the rise and fall of alliances. Which is vitally important in present day. I don't find the present traumatic but I do find myself with a sense of detachment for the future. Its a lot like chess.
If people were smarter they could probably change the future. They don't. The alternative is they know the results and don't care. Self interest, perhaps.
Actually, I agree with Huckleberry in that you can see right through the BS. When I saw the question of the media, I had a flashback to Charles Gibbs who says he is going to help me make sense of it. I don't find a need for that.
Actually I believe the quote is George Santayana....
I stand corrected. (Or sit.) As soon as I saw your post I knew that I had made an error. Thanks!
And I agree that most history is more entertaining than most fiction. There are some dull stretches of history IMO, and some extremely entertaining fiction. But just knowing that the events really happened makes history more interesting in general to me.
I stand corrected. (Or sit.) As soon as I saw your post I knew that I had made an error. Thanks!
And I agree that most history is more entertaining than most fiction. There are some dull stretches of history IMO, and some extremely entertaining fiction. But just knowing that the events really happened makes history more interesting in general to me.
I like that thought!! I also enjoy reading about a person or event, fully knowing what happens in the end, but having the author getting me to keep turning the pages.. to see if it might turn out different
Let me hypothesize something rather philosophically arcane.
After a point, it is no longer useful to study history. When you can see so clearly what the human motivations were in so many historical events, you reach the point at which you can pick up a book about an unfamiliar historical event and, just like a faulty novel, predict what the protagonists are going to do. History no longer surprises you.
It's like a Buddhist reaching the point at which he no longer needs to study the Buddha. He understands the machinery, the wiring, and gains nothing by continuing to examine the diagrams.
You can learn just so many facts. After that, you add nothing of value by learning more. You then need to shift your focus from knowledge to wisdom, and begin to organize the facts onto orderly and rational patterns, and then your intellectual achievement can continue to move forward.
I'll try to reconstruct an illustrative passae from D H Lawrences "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". Lawrence got out his glass and was showing the bedouins stars that could not be seen by the naked eye. Finally, the sheikh interrupted and said "Boys, we know our sky, our desert, our camels, our women. What is to be gained by adding star upon star to those we can name"?
Let me hypothesize something rather philosophically arcane.
After a point, it is no longer useful to study history. When you can see so clearly what the human motivations were in so many historical events, you reach the point at which you can pick up a book about an unfamiliar historical event and, just like a faulty novel, predict what the protagonists are going to do. History no longer surprises you.
It's like a Buddhist reaching the point at which he no longer needs to study the Buddha. He understands the machinery, the wiring, and gains nothing by continuing to examine the diagrams.
You can learn just so many facts. After that, you add nothing of value by learning more. You then need to shift your focus from knowledge to wisdom, and begin to organize the facts onto orderly and rational patterns, and then your intellectual achievement can continue to move forward.
I'll try to reconstruct an illustrative passae from D H Lawrences "Seven Pillars of Wisdom". Lawrence got out his glass and was showing the bedouins stars that could not be seen by the naked eye. Finally, the sheikh interrupted and said "Boys, we know our sky, our desert, our camels, our women. What is to be gained by adding star upon star to those we can name"?
I agree with your supposition that we must focus on applying what we have learned from history, however, I do not agree with the suggestion that the study of history eventually becomes unnecessary or futile. At least not for society at large. That would only be true if we were a civilization with a zero percent birth rate.
Often the lessons learned from history are no more than a generation deep. There comes a time when an individual may be able to completely shift his or her focus from the study of history to the application of the knowledge it has provided, but there will never be a time when that can be said for a civilization.
We don't pass down the wisdom we gain from such studies through our genes; we pass it down through education, be it in the form of lesson plans in the classroom, discussions at the breakfast table, or stories told around the campfire.
However the previous generation chooses to foster the study of history and its lessons in the next generation, it will always need to be done, and be done well.
I agree with your supposition that we must focus on applying what we have learned from history, however, I do not agree with the suggestion that the study of history eventually becomes unnecessary or futile. At least not for society at large. That would only be true if we were a civilization with a zero percent birth rate.
Often the lessons learned from history are no more than a generation deep. There comes a time when an individual may be able to completely shift his or her focus from the study of history to the application of the knowledge it has provided, but there will never be a time when that can be said for a civilization.
We don't pass down the wisdom we gain from such studies through our genes; we pass it down through education, be it in the form of lesson plans in the classroom, discussions at the breakfast table, or stories told around the campfire.
However the previous generation chooses to foster the study of history and its lessons in the next generation, it will always need to be done, and be done well.
Very good point.. I agree...I don't keep reading history just to learn more facts and dates...I start with a period that interests me, and then try to find more about the event.. what led up to it...what was the result of the events...who was involved...and go deeper into it from there. I just read an interesting quote..."We may forget History, but History does not forget us"..I'll have to get the author's name to credit it to him... Keep learning
There are many practical reasons to study history, not just intellectual reasons. Studying history helps us understand why things are the way they are today. I can't count the number of times when people try to justify their beliefs by saying 'thats just the way its always been' when they are blatantly wrong. If they had really studied history they would realize the many changes that have taken place overtime that shape are current world outlook.
I don't think history is emphasized enough in our schools, especially world history. Knowing the history of a region is the first step to understanding any conflict that is currently taking place. Knowing something about the history of Iraq could have helped the U.S. government understand the long-term consequences of an invasion. It would have helped them understand, that they can't just create a constitutional government overnight and expect to go home in a few months.
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