Why Do We Study History Essay, Research Paper

Essay

Why Do We Study History?

People live in the present. They plan for and worry about the future. History, however, is the study of the past. There are so many pressures and worries about the present and future planning, why bother caring about history? When there are so many other fields of knowledge that can educate you for future like math and science, why insist on history? And why urge many students to study even more history than they are required to? History is actually a very important subject. Two major reasons why we study history are to learn from the past and to avoid mistakes from happening again.

First of all, history offers a lot of information about how people and societies behave and act. We need to understand people who thought and acted differently than we do in our own time. Understanding the mores and behaviors of people and societies is almost impossible by just examining current scenarios and lifestyles. You need to know what happened in the past to understand why people act the way they do right now. By just looking at countries and religions right now, you cannot understand anything. For example, the Hindu and Chinese religions are very strict on education and ethics. A lot of people question why they are so different and why they think that way. If you look at their histories, you would understand the values and core of the culture were born that way. Confucius is the wise, all-knowing educator and teaches to all. That is part of the Chinese religion and philosophy and that is why the culture believes those customs and acts that way. The Hindu and Muslim religion do not allow women to wear many types of clothing that are worn today in the Unites States. Also, there are a lot of arranged marriages and customs. Many people think that is absurd and weird. However, people do not understand the values that have developed in India and Pakistan since the beginning of their civilization. The unbroken devotion to their husbands causes many women to adopt seclusive attitudes especially in clothing. Also arranged marriages are a sign of respect and revere for parents and letting your parents decide your future because they are considered experienced and at the level of God to the children. As you can see, only history can reveal the deep cultures and explanations needed to teach people about certain things.

The second reason history is important to study is because it helps us understand change and how the society we live in came to be. The past causes the present, and so the future. Any time we try to know why something happened, we have to look for things that took place earlier. Sometimes recent history will explain a major development, but also we need to look further back to identify the causes of change. Only through studying history can we grasp how things change and what factors caused the change. For example, in the field of scientific history, if there is a sudden warming of Earth temperatures to the extreme, history can help us out the most out of any scientific research. We would learn that the Earth goes through many stages of global warming and that it happened once before during the ice age. We would know exactly what is going to happen next and prepare for it. By looking at history we would find the causes and learn why it is happening and also and try to prevent it from happening again. Past repeats itself onto the present.

Lastly, the study of history is essential for good citizenship. This is the most common justification for why we study history. Historical information that lays the foundation for good citizenship can only come from study of the past. History provides information about the passed events, their problems and their results. It offers evidence also about how nations have interacted with other nations. That provides international and broadened perspectives that is a key item for good citizen ship. Studying history helps us understand how recent changes that affect the lives of citizens are emerging and their causes and possible effects. Studying history also conditions kids? minds for important decisions, such as voting, petitioning or just observing political happenings. For example, knowledge of our previous governmental leaders and presidents helps people understand what kinds of leaders excelled and what leaders caused negative changes. That important knowledge will serve us to make good decisions in voting for our next president.

Personally, I think that history is a great subject and I really like it. I completely agree with history being one of the core subjects of every middle and high school curriculum. Previous events and happenings are very interesting to me. They are like a storybook unraveling in mind and connecting to certain ideas and happenings in current society. History fills all the loose holes in your mind about why certain things happened or are happening. History also affects my thoughts and future actions. It guides me though everyday things and to make good decisions that will create a positive effect on my future.

In conclusion, history is a very important area of study for people of all ages. It has various advantages including citizenship, learning from our past mistakes, understanding other kinds of cultures and religions and testing the future. Whether you see it or not, history will definitely help you and will help in your future in all areas of life.