On History

As schoolchildren, we form loose, disconnected impressions of history—mental pictures built largely on paintings, photos, and movies of the American Civil War, the Middle Ages, the Wild West, the Victorian Age, the Oregon Trail, prehistory, the Space Age, and so forth.  We have no idea how or in what order these events or eras connect—or perhaps even that they connect at all.  However, as our minds mature, if we properly pursue our studies in history, we start to make connections and see, for example, that the treaties made in the years before 1914 led to the “Powder Keg of Europe” and the Great War, and that decisions at the end of the first world war led to the second, and so on.  And then, at some point along the way, some students of history receive an epiphany; their brains  become able to envision history—not as a list of names and dates, but as a fully interwoven tapestry of human stories.  At that point, music history, political history, technological history, geographical history, and all the rest becomes one: a huge, streamlined, moving force of persons and cultures, causes and effects flowing on from Creation till now, shaping our present in numerous ineffable ways.   It’s a glorious—and somewhat frightening—vision.

 Whether we reach this interconnected vision of history or not, our worldview affects our conception of history, and our conception of history forms a large part of our comprehensive worldview.  That is to say, depending on the perspectives or philosophies we bring to our vision of history, we may conceive of ourselves and humanity in any number of ways, between seeing our place in history as insignificant and the value of a few lives as miniscule compared with either the Good of Mankind or an eternal existence—or on the other hand, seeing each life as a heavenly gift of equal, high value, capable of affecting history, and the future, as (in the much-quoted metaphor) the smallest stone can still send ripples through a pond.  From this worldview (which changes over time on the basis of new information and ideas), we think and act accordingly in all facets of our lives.  For example, those who believe in an evolutionary view of history, feel that some peoples are more evolved than others, and see natural selection as a desirable event may, as Hitler and Margaret Sanger did, actively participate in genocide, abortion, and other forms of unnatural selection, which someone with a religious or humanistic view of history would see as morally and ethically abhorrent.  Our worldview, then, can be affected—and preferably improved—by our understanding of history.  The same is true vice versa.

Reluctant students of history would be best off matching their historical studies to their non-historical interests.  For example, someone interested in technology could study great inventors and inventions of the past.  Someone interested in sports could read sport histories and biographies of famous players.  Someone interested in stories could read books like Rifles for Waite and Pride and Prejudice.  Someone interested in movies could watch films like Luther and Memoirs of a Geisha.  Matching what we learn to our interests in the beginning will counteract initial aversions to “history,” and a little exposure to the past may lead to curiosity about related matters.  For instance, a movie lover watching Downton Abbey might become curious about the business with the household’s new telephone, which may lead to them Googling information about telephone history, which may lead to a study of Alexander Graham Bell, which may lead to aeronautics and then perhaps the legend of Icarus, and so on.  For younger generations, the format of sites like Wikipedia lends itself well to their casual, episodic study habits, for they can easily click links to related terms and thus expand their knowledge based on their own curiosity rather than the dictates of the pre-selected material in a textbook.  Once students have laid a basic historical foundation in their minds and kindled an interest for certain areas of history, students may be open to more reliable, sequential, academic sources of information and willingly choose to increase their knowledge thereby.

In brief, the study of the world’s history is relevant and valuable for all people.  Historical knowledge makes it much easier to place historical references in context, to interpret current events in light of their historical context, and to compare current events to similar historical events so we can learn from past mistakes, extrapolate probable outcomes, and thus plan better for the future.  Our goal, I feel, should be a mature, integrated vision of history, which provides a framework for inserting new information.  As time goes on and we learn more—intentionally or incidentally—our historical vision will gain color and fullness, making us more self- and culturally-aware and better prepared for the future.  Best of all for those turned off by such a dry, useful-sounding description, learning history is FUN!  It's like reading a novel with an infinite number of volumes and abridgments to choose from; you'll never be bored with the right story in hand, and you're not likely to run out of reading material anytime soon.