History is the study of the past, particularly when it applies to humans. We live in the present, 21st century, but there is thousands of years of human history behind us. And this history, people study vigorously. Many people just assume that history is just a boring memorization of facts and events that mean nothing to us now. But this could not be further from the truth. The things that happened in the past, are the reasons we have everything we do now. Studying it, is the only way to further our future, and to make sure our present, is something we want to live in. As George Orwell said, “Who controls the past now, controls the future,” (Source 5). Understanding the past is essential to Humankind. This is because it can help us further …show more content…
As humans, we look into the world, and are thankful that it is a better place than it was in the past. In the past, mass genocides seemed to happen every century, disease and pestilence killed off millions upon millions of humans over the centuries, and humans were actively trying to destroy each other, and the environment. Nowadays, these things do not happen. This is because of organizations like the UN, WHO, and local organizations like the US EPA. All of these organizations were developed to stop the problems in the world, and they were able to do this by studying the past and developing policies to prevent recreation of these events. In the book, “The Heart of the Matter,” the author says, “How do we understand and manage change if we have no notion of the past? How do we understand ourselves if we have no notion of a society, culture, or world different from the one in which we live?” (Source 3). Also, in Heroes of History, by William Durant, he stated, “Our human heritage has concrete examples of whether or not such a principle engendered the desired result, or precipitated an unanticipated catastrophe,” (Source 4). What these are saying is that by looking at human history, we avoid making mistakes, that can prove fatal for the species. We learn to understand ourselves by looking back and seeing what human nature is. With this knowledge we can figure out what are …show more content…
Our world was shaped by wars. The reason that everything is the way it is, is because of wars. Many people like to study wars because they are interesting, or may find some aspects of it horrifying. But looking at wars, goes much deeper then that. We can see what they fought for and learn the knowledge they passed on to us. In Victor Davis Hanson’s, Why Study War?, he explains more about this, “Military history has the moral purpose of educating us about past sacrifices that have secured our present freedom and security,” (Source 6). He also then says, “They… serve as reminders that thousands endured pain and hardship for our right to listen to what we wish on our iPods and to shop at Wal-Mart in safety—or that they expected future generations, to do the same for those not yet born,” (Source 6). As the article brought out, the reason we have all of our rights and technology is because of wars. And studying these wars are essential because they tell us why we should fight, why humans should take a stand against evils that wish to destroy it, why we are under obligation by the men, women, and children who died on the path the world took to this point. Innumerable people amounts of people have died on this quest to ensure that the future world is better than the one they currently inhibited. And as part of that human family, only by looking back and finding out these