Why You Should Care About History

I was right there with you in history class. (Not literally, most likely, though it's a possibility.) I was right there with you all, memorizing dates and battles and dead people's names, all of which I knew I could forget next semester. Without any consequence to my life whatsoever. You probably did forget most of it, and I don't blame you.

 

I didn't forget it, though. I always loved history because I love interesting, deep stories. I like complex characters. I like long plots. I like some intrigue, forbidden love, fierce fights.... History class, for me, was like learning the really interesting footnotes of a great story from terribly boring storytellers: textbooks.

 

I did have several excellent history teachers, and you may have as well. But there is only so much they can do teaching from a watered-down text, and they have to teach from the book. It leads to boredom and headaches for both teachers and students alike.

Home, with library books (speaking of history) and Internet access, I devoured the rest of humanity's tale, the stuff that wasn't taught in the classrooms. What I discovered is why so many kids hate history: the history taught in the classroom almost always lacks context. And it utterly fails to explain why it's relevant.

Yes, yes. It's American history and you live in America. But it's all taught in such a way that few students come out of the system having a real grasp of why all that information they studied for on tests matters. When the average high school graduate is asked what the Founding Founders of this country did and why it's important, the standard generic answer is something like "They gave us independence and freedom," and thinking stops along with caring.

 

"And why not?!" you yell in protest. "Why should it matter what happened in the past. It's past. What matters is the future! What do the colonial British or Revolutionary French or Ancient Egyptians or any of them matter to me? To my well-being, to my income, to my prospects, to my relationships? To my future?!"

 

First off, buddy, you visit my blog and you use that tone with me? Are you crazy? You type "?!" on my blog? Sit down.

 

Oh. You are sitting. Well, stand up.

 

Now sit down.

 

What you need to know -  and what the system forgot to tell you - is that history, the past, the things that happened and the people that caused them to happen... all that matters to your future. To all of our futures, in fact. But even just yours, personally.

 

There's this quote that you've probably heard, the one historians and teachers almost always use to justify the teaching of history:

 

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- George Santayana

 

That's the actual wording, folks. It's not "If you don't remember history, you're doomed to repeat it" or anything else. I am fiercely devoted to accurate quotes. Know that. Look:

 

"I am fiercely devoted to accurate quotes."
- Kyle M. Jones

 

See?

 

There's a reason that quote is thrown about like so much confetti. It's very, very true. There are patterns in human behavior through time spans both long and short. If you learn the patterns of history, you learn the patterns of those around you. That's important for the people who make your laws and your tax rates. And no matter how much of an individualist you consider yourself, you probably can admit that other people play a large role in your life. Unless you're one of those wilderness loners out in the woods, living solely off the land. In which case, kudos on the Internet connection.

 

Knowledge of the past lets you call bull when you hear politicians drone on about their party's version of history. The one they're using to justify your place in society, say. Knowing the past will produce red flags in your mind when others, less knowledgeable or less honest, try and sell you fiction in place of facts. Knowing where inventions you use every day came from, who made them and why, will deepen your appreciation of their existence and purpose. And knowing dates places it all in very exact context. (That's kind of the point of the calendar. I really won't stand for you complaining about the telling of time, frankly. Dates matter.)

 

And know this, too: History is not just politics, wars, and famous dead people. It's not even just inventions and how they changed civilizations. History is also the 'little" guy. History is movements for acceptance and equality. History is forbidden passions and dying hopes, real drama, and new purpose. More than anything, perhaps, it's the study of change. And make no mistake, though patterns repeat, everything changes. Without knowing history, you're helpless amidst it all.

 

So that's why you should care about history: Context. Appreciating the present. Most of all, guarding against those that would sell you a worse future. That's why history is important for you, your happiness, your purposes, your life.

 

Besides, it's interesting and fun.

 

I'll prove it.