What, in your words, is the point of learning History?

[Alenee]

Not trying to start a debate here or even questioning from my own perspective. I just have a hunch that we each have a slightly different idea of what the point is to learning history.

 

So, what's says the hive?

[Jane]

As my old history teacher used to say, "So we can learn from our past mistakes." :) Plus, we find the stories fascinating and it enriches our lives.

[Veritaserum]

It helps to know what has worked and what hasn't. It's also important to keep a reality check that all of us alive right now aren't the only ones to have lived on our planet and we won't be the last. In other words, I think studying history, particularly global history, helps keep the ego in check. ;)

 

ETA: Also, it's really fun and interesting to learn about how people lived, loved, worked, built, governed, died, etc. :)

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

History is really big around here, second to math and language arts. I think studying history gives us a better perspective of ourselves as individuals. We aren't so tempted to think of ourselves as more important than we are and our eyes are opened to the lives of extraordinary individuals who dreamed and labored and fought.

 

It teaches us lessons about the consequences of certain actions. It surprises us and makes us think when we learn "the other side of the story."

 

In short, we study history for enlightenment.

[Heather in Neverland]

So we can see God's plan for mankind from the very beginning and where we fall in that big picture.

[st_claire]

I think that we learn for several reasons, as some of the other posters have said. Learning about people's lives is fun. Learning from past mistakes and correct actions is wise. Being able to quote from history is also very useful in rhetoric. We get where we are today by standing on the shoulder's of those before us.

[8filltheheart]

To recognize both the insignificance and significance of our lives as individuals. Insignificant in that the whole world has existed in time and will continue to exist beyond our existence. Significant b/c our lives do impact the world beyond our existence.

 

History for us is to see the multiple perspectives of single events. Learning to evaluate and understand that bias exists in the eyes of the beholder. It is one of the key ways I hope to help my kids to think for themselves and make judgments based on multiple levels of facts vs being told something and accepting it as the only truth.

 

I shared in another post that one day in the last couple of weeks my 14 yo came to me with her book that she is reading for history (ancient Rome). She looked at me and simply stated, "Mom, republics never survive." After I quietly agreed with her, she said, "This is like a current events lesson, not ancient history." Then, she simply walked away absorbed in her own thoughts.

 

That is my goal in studying history. I have never had that conversation with her. Ever. She is evaluating and making her own judgements based on the information she has. Whether or not the analysis is 100% accurate or not is not even relevant to me. It is learning to think, evaluate, synthesize, and form independent thought that I hope for.

[WTMindy]

You study history so you don't have a stroke living through your own times.

 

I love you, Patty!!!

[Rosie_0801]

Everything that is happening today is a result of what happened yesterday, the day before, and so on. Use politics, for example. Most of the leading politicians have been around for a good 30 years. If you know what the trends were when they joined up, who their heros were, you get a good idea on where they are coming from and what their vision for their term in the top office will be. Issues we have today stretch back hundreds of years.

 

:)

Rosie

[kalanamak]

To learn better how to be.

[keptwoman]

Because we can't truely understand where we are now unless we understand where we came from and the events and people in the past that helped shaped what we have now.

[mcconnellboys]

Just as there are patterns throughout the folklore or mythology of the world from earliest times, so there are patterns throughout the histories of different peoples worldwide over time. Reviewing these may help to see what factors have influenced the rise and fall of various civilizations over time. Hopefully, learning the lessons of history will help us be better citizens in moving forward in time, both locally and globally.

[Carol in Cal.]

Because it is so much FUN!

 

(Frivolous and incomplete, but nevertheless accurate.)

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

so as an adult, you can carry on an intelligent conversation

[dangermom]

I agree with everyone!

 

But to me, the most important thing is learning what has happened before and why, so that we can maybe learn and avoid the same mistakes, and so that we realize that we aren't the cleverest people ever to live and everyone before about 1960 was stupid. I feel that most of American society is depressingly arrogant and forgetful about the past.

[Peela]

Because it gives context and meaning to our lives. Otherwise we are just floating adrift in a shallow culture of selfishness and greed. History gives us perspective, direction, teaches us lessons, it humanises us. It is not just enriching as if that is a luxury- I feel it is essential to our ability to live our own potential.

 

I recently did a workshop where we connected with our ancestors, and it was amazing to me to consciously think of all the people I descend from. All the women in whom I was a future potential descendent. Their lives, their joys and suffering, their dead children, their plagues and their rejoicing in rain and sunshine for their food. All the men whose seed fertilised the next generation. To really consider this was new to me and very heartening- it made me very grateful to all the people whose lives made mine possible.

And that's just my family tree. "History" is an even bigger story, and it includes us- we are part of it, just the most recent part.

[Zelda]

It gives us something to do between breakfast and lunch.

[mcconnellboys]

Here, here! What's a day without fun?

[PariSarah]

. . . give us a good dose of humility.