Why learn History?

Hello kevchua this is checkmail and according to me we must learn History in order to know the ancient peoples means our anchestors living, Nature at that time, etc. Today we have many things going around us, its all due to ancient progress which is based on facts and experience of the past period.So in order to know the evolution of any thing we have to track it down from ancient period that is History.Its of great importance to all, and also loved by all,.Actually I think history is very insteresting in nature, especially the period of kings and Emperors.

To learn from our mistakes right?

This question have been in mind for a long time. I never wanted to study History and I don't know what is the reason to take History as a special subject for graduation. It can be one of the subjects of graduation, but not as the main subject. I am sorry, history lovers. I think the onlyl reason to learn history is -it will help us to undertand the mistakes happened in past and we learn from old peoples mistakes and we don't commit that mistake in our life. I was about to crete a discussion in this topic.

Remember the historical event date maybe not too much use, becouse you only know what happened, you should try to know why that historical event happened, from that you can analyze which things are right an which things are wrong. So you will not make mistakes that somebody made before.

To be honest, i once hated history cause to me, it was the most boring subject ever. But, i began to like history after treating it as a story more than a subject. I began to link the events together and make it into a story and felt that it was an interesting subject. I got distinction all the time after i began to like the subject xD Now to get to the point.. I do think that history is an asset. In fact, every single thing in form of knowledge is an asset. About the part of helping our nation in the present and future, i don't really think history can be of help.

Hello kevchua, Boy oh boy have you rekindled memories of early secondary and primary school. From the onset, in our education system, at the primary school level, you are force-fed your history, just to know it for knowledge's sake. Perhaps this crude method of teaching the subject can be attributed to my strong dislike for the subject at an early age. After primary school, the history continued in secondary school, however we were now learning why things happened - about the traditions, cultures, inventions and mindsets of ancient civilizations. We learned about what caused the great disputes and wars, what stimulated individuals to make certain discoveries and much more information about our early ancestors. However, the need to remember the various dates, was admittedly a turn-off for me as it was for most people, coupled with the need to remember so many names in relation to the events which occurred. However my dislike of the subject caused me to drop it like a hot potato as soon as the opportunity was available. This was because I actually saw no point in doing history. For starters, it is a subject which is not as nearly recognized as one such as Mathematics in our contemporary society. It's lack of current relevance causes it to take a back seat, and less emphasis is made to develop new teaching techniques to serve as an incentive for people to actually want to take up the subject. Furthermore, there is not much one can do with qualifications in History, except become a teacher of History or an academic - none of which particularly interested me. The claims that people consistently made about "history is needed because we cannot move to the future without knowing what happened in the past" or "history helps us not to repeat mistakes of the past" were particularly hard for me to justify. This is because when these events took place, the subsequent change which occurred afterward was so significant, that it would prevent said situation from occurring again anytime in the near future, and consequently, the mindset and paradigms of society would evolve to accommodate new concepts and ideas which would quickly become the norm. This is why for example we frown upon slavery today, because of the advancements in human rights and other social groups. It is now accepted that slavery is a cruel, gruesome and unfortunate part of history, most of which the populace condones. If this is the accepted norm, then do you ever see it occurring again in the near or even the distant future? I would think not. So in what way does learning about the history of slavery aid in preventing its occurrence in the future? Thanks for sharing and happy myLotting!

I liked history but I always thought American history was the most boring because World history involved more interesting cultures and places. I believe that by learning from history, we can see the patterns of history repeating itself, thus learning how to prevent past mistakes from happening again.

because history has brought you where you are today. without knowing history, we are doomed to repeat the past mistakes and if we know it, perhaps we will not.

Hi kevchua, I have always loved history from the moment we started to study it in school. They always say that to do well in history examinations it is only 40% of what you know (dates,events etc) and 60% of interpretation, questioning why things happened, what caused major events, underlying causes beneath the headline causes, how cultures were formed and influenced actions. It is not a repetition of facts; find a period of history which you enjoy and read more about it, there are different views to learn from of what actually happened. There is even revisionist nonsense nowadays which states that certain historical things, such as the holocaust, never actually happened. If you came across such a view you would need to read literature which proves the opposite. I have always been fascinated by history as it emerges from hidden cultures, such as the books which were published in the last few decades about real events in China which before that had been forbidden to be published abroad so the real truth was hidden for a time, the same with books which have emerged showing the real life in Iran. All historical events are destined to be repeated and history shows that people do not learn from it so they need to be more aware and take more interest in the subject.

History is not just about dates, it's about people. Many people don't like memorising dates, and really all they tell you is when something happened, not why it happened. I would suggest a good way to interest yourself in history would be to read well researched historical fiction, like the works of Ellis Peters, Jean Plaidy and Sebastian Faulks. These are about real people, but the history is accurate. Or look at some memoirs, for individual interpretations of history. If you have the History Channel where you live, there are some great programmes on there, which are very easy to engage with. Our history is what shaped our world and our lives. It's what we learn from, and we should embrace it.

I used to dislike history lessons when I was at my school age. It was so boring and so difficult to remember all those events and dates. Now, as a grown-up man, I can tell you this: I very very regret that I haven't been paying attention to my history classes. The thing is people will use the historical events for reference, for discussion, or even for leisure topics from time to time which I simply can only listen rather than to speak up.

I think I am the same of you. When in school, I like to learn maths and English, as well as geography, however, I do not like to learn history at all. But my teacher told me that it is very important to know the history of your country, because we can learn a lot of things from it.

Studying history i boring. But what's interesting is you'll have so many stock knowledge if you'll give time in studying it. Regarding on how it can help.. uhmm... It can help our nation because we will know the mistakes before and we should learn from it.

Even i belive in what you said i never enjoyed studying history it was so boring because of craming those dates and events, but in latter stage of my life when i came out of school i started reading books and enclyo in which there where many historical events even though i dont remember those dates but i remember those events. History is important to learn because studying you can make decisions for present thats how you can change your course of future. The best way to learn history is by learning history as stories not as just chapters.

At first, I'm among the person who hates history, as I cannot remember people weird names and all sorts of dates, but as I grown up, I begin to love history as I begin to see the significance of history to the world we living in. It kind a very hard subject with so many understanding, but as I become older, i become interested in history as I able to understand people more

History has some revealing facts.Without history we are nothing.It may be abt anything abt technology,culture,social facts.We have to learn from them and improve and to create a better future to the mankind.We shouldnot make the same mistakes which appeared in the past.

Well for me I appreciate History class. Somehow I find it interesting learning how the people live way before the techy stuff. How they strategical solve problems.. Maybe if you look in a different perspective, you'll appreciate it too...:)