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The benefits of studying History


kobolds

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Today this question come out from my head , is there a benefit from studying history ? other than fun to know what had happened in the past I couldn't think out anything that it actually help in my life. except for small number of people that working in that sector , for majority it totally useless .

what do you think, am I wrong?

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Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it ;)

I was just about to say that. One thing it does show very well is that people (or at least, Governments) never really change, and their motivations and desires (e.g. for "living space", control of reources, or sheer egotism) don't really change. This could cause existential angst, it is true, that things never seem to be moving steadily towards the sunlit uplands of a new era in human consciousness, but on the other hand it can be rather reassuring in that it shows that anything that happens has probably happened before, somewhere. It also shows very clearly that any Political system never lasts forever, and empires inevitably decline and fall, so it gives a sense of perspective of the ephemeral nature of earthly powers, and that however idiotic Leaders may be, they and their systems won't last for ever.

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History is a roadmap with reviews in the legend. The legend will tell you what other people thought at the time. For you to experience the roadmap of history, something must inspire you for that is how you will know to go there.

Unfortunately, I do not believe there is an app for this.

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Today this question come out from my head , is there a benefit from studying history ? other than fun to know what had happened in the past I couldn't think out anything that it actually help in my life. except for small number of people that working in that sector , for majority it totally useless .

what do you think, am I wrong?

I wouldn't thought it was totally useless because what happens if you want to trace your family line.

However if your thinking about earning a steady wage I'm sure there's better subjects out there.

If you want to continue down this road you'll either up a professor or an archeologist.

You can even write your own books being an historian and end up being a specialist in a certain era.

But tbh the most important thing about history is learning from mistakes and trying to avoid them.

Your not going to be filthy rich but a little hindsight is a good thing.

Tbh it's more useful than advanced trigomentary so keep plugging away.

If it's not to your taste attempt to study something else.

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I think learning the history of the human race is essential to an intelligent mind. I would think the reasons this is so would be obvious.

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As an ex-History lecturer, I can think of no cogent reason to study history other than that it kept me in beer and steaks for 35 years! So everybody get to your History classes and help a starving lecturer!

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History gives us the context to understand the world in which we live and how we got there; it grounds us.

It shows us that we are not locked in to the systems that surround us - that we can always strive to be better.

It shows that there are individuals that can make a difference.

It gives us a sense of hope - a sense that regardless of how bad things may become, humanity will always prevail.

"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time, they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, always!" - Ghandi.

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History isn't useless.

Why should we be ignorant about our past and about the past of our nations?

Why shouldn't schoolchildren be taught about WWII and about how we saved ourselves from Nazi rule?

Why shouldn't we know about why Britain is today a Protestant nation and not a Catholic one (because of Henry VIII's break with Rome in 1534)?

Why shouldn't we not know these things?

I love history. I'm currently reading "A History of Ancient Britain" by Neil Oliver.

Edited by TheLastLazyGun
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Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat ita16.jpgk3.jpg

The American military complex should heed those pearls of wisdom..

They should have studied how the Russians succumbed to the mahajaddin.

They should have studied how they succombed in the Vietnamese jungles.

They didn't and just repeated the mistakes in Afghanistan.

And this bit of advice is also meant for their coalition partners in crime the British.

Edited by Medium Brown
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The American military complex should heed those pearls of wisdom..

They should have studied how the Russians succumbed to the mahajaddin.

They should have studied how they succombed in the Vietnamese jungles.

They didn't and just repeated the mistakes in Afghanistan.

And this bit of advice is also meant for their coalition partners in crime the British.

Indeed, military intervention on the 'Stan by the great Powers doesn't havea very inspiring record... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1842_retreat_from_Kabul

:unsure2:

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Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat ita16.jpgk3.jpg

Yes. Another similar problem is that those who do know history tend to repeat it anyway.
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"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time, they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, always!" - Ghandi.

Wow! I don't doubt you that he said that, but it is wonderful how so shrewd a man could sound so naive.

I think we tend to think the good guys have always won, because they won, not because they were the good guys. Constantine's triumph helped end the ancient world and bring on an age of suffering and ignorance in Europe. It is hard to look at this and say that the good guys won, but one can if one has a long enough perspective -- maybe the Dark Ages were necessary for some reason or another.

We are not guaranteed that good will triumph. We must work for it.

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maybe the Dark Ages were necessary for some reason or another.

The greatest misnomer in history!!!

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The greatest misnomer in history!!!

Yes I have heard it referred to as a misnomer, but I think the description is accurate. The lights did go out, and, to the historian, the sources dried up as literacy diminished. Lives got shorter and the population dropped and went rural and society disintegrated into feudalism. This was not a case of the good guys winning.

Whether it was a dark age or not however doesn't affect my point.

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I wasn't questioning your point, merely observing that the period in question wasn't quite as dark as is commonly perceived.

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History was my major in college so, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on this topic. History is very useful not just for historians and teachers but also for the general population. Everyday we are bombarded by politicians, celebrities, and the news media trying to get us to think one way or another, and one of the main tools that they use to win our support is by appealing to historical evidence. For example lets use a common argument made by the religious right who insist that the US. is a Christian nation founded by Born again believers. Well if that were true, they would have a very strong emotional appeal that America had fallen from it's high origins and needs to return to it's roots. However if you study lives and times of the founding father's you would realize that while most were indeed very spiritual men, in most cases they had more in common with say a deist or non-religious theist then say a modern day evangelical. In which case it becomes obvious that America was, while heavily influenced by Christianity, was also a melting pot for many different spiritual ideas and concepts. That is one among several different ways that history can be useful.

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The more educated you are, the better off you are, in general. So it's good to know a thing or two about history (or any other topic you may have an interest in).

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I think human history is so chaotic (in the mathematical sense) that drawing detailed conclusions from it is largely futile, and it is for this reason that people repeat the mistakes of the past -- even when they are well-grounded in history.

I also think that a lot that we take for granted as history is really myth, or at best grossly misunderstood, maybe for ideological reasons, maybe just because the winners write the history books.

Still, history should be studied as a core part of any educational curriculum, and professional historians who go back and try to straighten out the realities from the fictions using source material and other methods are very much to be encouraged. We just need to maintain some skepticism about what we think we know.

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The more you learn about history the more, you learn about people in general. You can pretty much play madlibs with history and can get a good picture with what is going on now. (You do it well enough you could be mistaken as a prophet)

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The more you learn about history the more, you learn about people in general. You can pretty much play madlibs with history and can get a good picture with what is going on now. (You do it well enough you could be mistaken as a prophet)

Yes, of course, but I think it is possible to think you know more about people than you actually do. For the purpose of understanding people better, perhaps anthropology, sociology and psychology, if not even philosophy and medicine, are as useful.

As far as being mistaken for a prophet, the best course may be to make frequent loud predictions.

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Learning History is all good and dandy. But learning true history is important. The spoon fed history taught in most lower education is inaccurate at best. Just like its important to know science and now more so then ever computer tech.

Education is a key to advancing our culture. Learning self sufficiency is a great education as well. But it is untaught only learned and passed down.

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I think its important to know history because it has a way of repeating itself. Our candidates for office, we should know their history because again it has a way of repeating itself. We know from history there has been mass extinctions because of impacts from asteroids and climate changes so we can expect it to happen again.

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