omfgomfg
Smash Lord
I'm in the tenth grade right now and I still don't get it. Everybody says we learn it to prevent repeating past mistakes... (a lot more to come later.)
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why do we have to learn history..
- Thread starter omfgomfg
- Start date
Because it's important to understand how we got to where we are. I admit that it doesn't really matter what Pharoh built the pyramids or who led the Germans in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest (Arminius, by the way. I've had plans to write a historical fiction book on him for almost three years, haven't written a word), but it is important to know that Germany was never under Roman control, which is the result of the battle of Teutoburg.This alone created a culture gap in Europe which is still prevalent, although now it's much smaller then before.
The easiest way to think of why we need to learn it, though, is to not pull it back so far. Is it important to know what happened yesterday? The same reasons that it is important hold true for right now.
So, lets use that example. It's obviously very important to know that we where in Iraq fighting a war yesterday. So it's important to know that we invaded Iraq in 2003.
To know why we where there, it's important to know about the War on Terrorism, and 9/11. Which then leads us to US presence in the Middle East, which then leads us to why we where and are there. It's important to know about the Iraq-Iran war in the 80s, which lead us further back into the general history of the area. We have to know about Islam, about the different groups, and what conflicts they have. Simply saying "so we learn from past mistakes" is the same as saying that "E=mc2" is just an equation. It's true, but so much is covered by those phrases that they're inadequate at describing it.
We support Isreal. Why? I'm not going to do another connect the dots, but that leads us over a thousand years back alone. Same with why the Republicans control the south and the Democracts control the North, why the South is Evangelical while the North is not, why is there a UN, all of those things are decided by history, and if a person expects to be able to add himself into the world, those are things he need to learn.
Unless you plan to be an idiot who has no idea about what's going on with the world, and has no say in what his government does, learn your history.
Lord Acton said "the science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.\"
The easiest way to think of why we need to learn it, though, is to not pull it back so far. Is it important to know what happened yesterday? The same reasons that it is important hold true for right now.
So, lets use that example. It's obviously very important to know that we where in Iraq fighting a war yesterday. So it's important to know that we invaded Iraq in 2003.
To know why we where there, it's important to know about the War on Terrorism, and 9/11. Which then leads us to US presence in the Middle East, which then leads us to why we where and are there. It's important to know about the Iraq-Iran war in the 80s, which lead us further back into the general history of the area. We have to know about Islam, about the different groups, and what conflicts they have. Simply saying "so we learn from past mistakes" is the same as saying that "E=mc2" is just an equation. It's true, but so much is covered by those phrases that they're inadequate at describing it.
We support Isreal. Why? I'm not going to do another connect the dots, but that leads us over a thousand years back alone. Same with why the Republicans control the south and the Democracts control the North, why the South is Evangelical while the North is not, why is there a UN, all of those things are decided by history, and if a person expects to be able to add himself into the world, those are things he need to learn.
Unless you plan to be an idiot who has no idea about what's going on with the world, and has no say in what his government does, learn your history.
Lord Acton said "the science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.\"
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2002
- Messages
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Because knowing history can show us precursors later to prevent it from happening again. Look at the Salem Witch Trials. They were ignored and we had the Red Scare and the latest Terrorist Scares. World War II could have been averted if people had looked at the past.
You are in 10th grade, which in the real world means = you don't know ****. History DOES repeat itself, and most government officials ignore it at the expense of others.
You are in 10th grade, which in the real world means = you don't know ****. History DOES repeat itself, and most government officials ignore it at the expense of others.
PaperDream
Smash Apprentice
My answer:
Our society is a product of history.
To be a useful part of our society we need to know about our society.
Therefore, since our society is a product of history, and we need to know about our society to be a useful part of it, we must learn about our history.
Our society is a product of history.
To be a useful part of our society we need to know about our society.
Therefore, since our society is a product of history, and we need to know about our society to be a useful part of it, we must learn about our history.
PaperDream
Smash Apprentice
Well, I'm majoring in education, so I can explain a little bit of it, but there are so many different philosophies of education that you can get completely different answers from people.
A lot of schools follow the educational essentialist philosophy of education, which has an emphasis on almost almost all subjects so that students can leave for college well rounded and have minimal difficulty in college with whatever path they decide to take (science, math, literature, humanities, etc) This educational philosophy is extremely widespread.
On the other hand there's also the perennialist philosophy, which is much more about ideas or principles than specific facts. Instead of learning facts, it's learning to gain the skill. You do the math to learn how to reason.
So two answers are that you learn it to be better prepared for college, and so that you can become better at reasoning.
You guys would probably like Montessori schools (if you could find a Montessori high school, most Montessori schools are elementary or middle schools)
A lot of schools follow the educational essentialist philosophy of education, which has an emphasis on almost almost all subjects so that students can leave for college well rounded and have minimal difficulty in college with whatever path they decide to take (science, math, literature, humanities, etc) This educational philosophy is extremely widespread.
On the other hand there's also the perennialist philosophy, which is much more about ideas or principles than specific facts. Instead of learning facts, it's learning to gain the skill. You do the math to learn how to reason.
So two answers are that you learn it to be better prepared for college, and so that you can become better at reasoning.
You guys would probably like Montessori schools (if you could find a Montessori high school, most Montessori schools are elementary or middle schools)
LelandStanfordJr
Smash Apprentice
Alternatively you could learn history through Brawl. Lose 1 stock and read a chapter of David McCullough.
Teethpaste101
Smash Apprentice
Out of all the classes and bad teachers i have i look forword to History. What would you rather History or like Maths, and language class, Home eco. its really about what sort of classes your into
voittaa711
Smash Journeyman
Math and Science ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
You're right though. My math teacher admitted that most of the things we learn in math class, we will never see or use ever again. The reason behind this is that it introduces your brain to different thinking methods and without math or chemistry problems, we wouldn't stay sharp at all.
We'd gradually, well...get dumber.
Mari0sPooPoo
Smash Journeyman
We should all be farmers, and then use imaginary numbers to calculate the amount of milk our cows should outpute.
"Uh-oh, Bessy only put out 5i x 2i gallons of milk today... Time to bring her out back with ol' shotgun steve."
"Uh-oh, Bessy only put out 5i x 2i gallons of milk today... Time to bring her out back with ol' shotgun steve."
Some aspects of history are boring, but it is worthwhile to learn. For example, if you are moving to another country you might want to study the history of that country to know what the customs are expected there. And Read Eor's post again for truth.