Why do you study History?

[HistoryFan]

hmm. I think it's because I've always wanted my life to be something more, to be something more than just a random person in the world. I've always wanted to be something special, and can you blame me? I think most people want the same thing. So I study history because I'm fascinated with all the civilizations and people who have done great things, and deep down I want to be one of them. And I'm not talking about a story in the local news, I've always wanted to be remember, not 100 years from now, not 500 years from now but thousands of years from now. A person people hundreds, and thousands of years from now can look up to and say "Wow, he was GREAT. He represented heroic characteristics, was intelligent, and charismatic."

Now, of course once I got to the age of about 14 I realized how unlikely that is, so since then I've decided to just study history... Deep down though, somewhere, I think I still want to make history.

 

[ZeletDude]

Because its interesting.

 

[classical_hero]

“Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.” Edmund Burke

 

[Dachs]

Burke didn't say that; it's a misquote of Santayana. And the quote's stupid anyway, because history doesn't have very much predictive power, if any.

 

[LiquidCommander]

Because our societies, governments, civilizations would crumble if we do not understand, or try to understand the records of our past.

Oh yeah, and a game called Age of Empires II.

 

[privatehudson]

It started as a family thing, most of my Dad's side of the family are interested in military history, and my Mum is very interested in local history. I've always liked reading about military history and got interested in local history in about the last 6 years or so, mostly through cross-over events such as the involvement of Merseyside in the American Civil War and then local events in general. I also used to do a lot of wargaming when I was younger (now I mostly just play computer wargames) and interest in those tended to lead to me reading up on subject we were trying to represent.

 

[Whiskey_Lord]

Oh yeah, and a game called Age of Empires II.

That's a good old classic that I even still have installed. I like medieval history (and literature, of course) too, but studying it as a literary scholar takes more work than I care to do, so it's just something I do for fun now.

 

[Lithuanian!]

I don't study history just because I don't want to be a teacher :|

 

[BuckyRea]

I don't study history just because I don't want to be a teacher :|

Ouch! I really do resemble that remark. I teach history, although I actually majored in English as an undergrad.

That said, history is a great discipline (two of the six Pythons majored in it) to study in college before moving onto any one of a number of careers. As a former college bureaucrat I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the number of different and diverse careers open to history BAs, including the law, marketing, advertising, other social sciences applied in the practical world, business operation management, and a host of other "soft skills" that separate out those who know how to see the big picture. It doesn't give you concrete skills, but it teaches you problem-solving thinking and big-dumb-mistake-avoiding.

History is among the liberal arts because it teaches you how to think, how to research, how to project out the long term effects of any given course of action, and how to understand the things that motivate people.

 

[Dachs]

It also teaches you the futility of trying to keep up with secondary literature.

 

[BCLG100]

Because it's fun and interesting. Why would anyone do anything? My old teacher stated it like this;

'1066- the battle of hastings is a prime example of why everyone should study history. For the mathematical lovers amongst you its got numbers; 1.0.6.6. whilst the more English side of you has got words; The. battle. of hastings. and finally for those more arty amongst you, well you can just go look at the Bayeux Tapestry to find out what happened.'

So in essence, history has everything you could want; numbers, facts, art, words.

 

[Masada]

History is unbelievably awesome for economists. Short institutional memories are something to loathe.

 

[schlaufuchs]

The wonderful thing about history is that it's deceptively easy. When you just start it seems like an extraordinarily simple thing to learn and be competent at. The more of it you study/interact with other people, the more you realize just how insignificant your knowledge is, and how much work you still have to do.

 

[Tee Kay]

The wonderful thing about history is that it's deceptively easy. When you just start it seems like an extraordinarily simple thing to learn and be competent at. The more of it you study/interact with other people, the more you realize just how insignificant your knowledge is, and how much work you still have to do.

This.

 

[Ataxerxes]

Because our societies, governments, civilizations would crumble if we do not understand, or try to understand the records of our past.

Oh yeah, and a game called Age of Empires II.

You got started from AoE II also!?! That did get me started.

Other reasons - understanding the current world is easier with a historical understanding. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Also, in most cases, it's as entertaining as fiction and it really happened. A lot of people feel fiction helps them understand the human condition. I'd think history does better.

 

[Lithuanian!]

I don't need to study history. I read history books, talking with peoples about history, reading in internet... I hate stupid teenagers in school I was one of them, now I wish to say sorry for most those teachers who was trying to teach me and my friends
Now I'm working some stupid job and thinking what to study.
BTW. My first strategy game was warcraft 2 on PSone, that was cool no-life days

 

[vogtmurr]

Burke didn't say that; it's a misquote of Santayana. And the quote's stupid anyway, because history doesn't have very much predictive power, if any.

ah, but it gives examples of where a chosen behaviour in similar circumstances has taken people in the past. Human behaviour seems very cyclic, with every generation destined to repeat the same stupid mistakes as the previous generation; or maybe its every two generations. Societies like people, have to learn from their mistakes. I'm quite sure if history didn't exist at all, if thats somehow possible, governments would be even more woefully misinformed in their decision making. We would have no knowledge of anything being possibly, different. thats scary.

I just find history in general to be interesting, both on the macro scale, and the high drama of certain characters within it. Its basically taken the place of literature as one of my past times, not sure if thats really a good thing , but the most moving stories are true.

 

[SG-17]

Do I need a reason?


I just do it.

 

[Dachs]

ah, but it gives examples of where a chosen behaviour in similar circumstances has taken people in the past. Human behaviour seems very cyclic, with every generation destined to repeat the same stupid mistakes as the previous generation; or maybe its every two generations.

But it doesn't, because they're invariably not the same mistakes. In history, context is everything. Saying "lol Hitler shouldve lernd frum Napoleon not two invade Rusha" or something like that is nonsense, because the Nazi state faced different challenges than did the Imperial French. Many of them were the same on a systemic level, perhaps, but most weren't, and directly comparing the two invasions falls apart quite rapidly. That's only the most famous example, though. Regrettably, most of them relate to military history, because of all the amateur military historians and armchair generals. There aren't quite so many armchair economic historians or social historians.

 

[Kentharu]

I wouldn't mind seeing some armchair economic historians.

I'm looking at you Masada.