how can people benefit from studying history?

Question

people, things or events?

Answer 1

It is popular to speak about "avoiding their mistakes". There is something to this, but this is often done superficially (missing the larger historical context of an event or movement) or one-sidedly (e.g., looking ONLY at the negative)

I would suggest that we can benefit if we study history:

(A) to UNDERSTAND
1) and get perspective on our current situation (how we got here; the background, origin of ideas, traditions...)
2) the CONTEXT of ideas and developments -- they didn't grow up in a vaccum; seeing the context can help us to make better sense of them, to more accurately interpret them (not simply using our OWN context & assumptions), to critique them as well as perhaps to critique our-SELVES and our own ideas (recognizing that we TOO live in a particular historical context)
3) the 'human condition' and nature of humanity (including ourselves!) - a framework for understanding human activity, the human 'record' --BOTH the good and the bad-- to better understand and wrestle with the moral questions and problems of our own day
- to learn from their failures (how to avoid)... not woodenly, for though the core issues are the same, the FORM with which we wrestle with something may be rather different from what others have face
- to appreciate and learn from their SUCCESSES, how they perhaps overcame various obstacles (and perhaps appreciating better how great their obstacles were, so that we can more fairly assess them)

(B) to gain "PRACTICAL" skills
- to learn how to think and write clearly, to organize and interpret evidence -- develop solid 'academic' skills
- how to ask questions, how to advance an argument
core skills that can be useful in work in ANY field

(C) for ENJOYMENT!
- the study of history, done well, can be fascinating. . . partly because of the way it can help you make sense of the PRESENT and of OTHER areas of knowledge and give insight (see part A), but also 'for its own sake'. I enjoy reading a well-told biography or story of a particular period/set of events, following the unbelievable twists in the plot and complexity of the characters, that beat anything a top-flight novelist could conjure up ("Historical novels" can be OK, but few can compare with ).
- studying history ALSO makes OTHER things more enjoyable, whether reading classic literature from another period or watching a movie set in another time and place. . . better understanding the historical situation makes it all much more interesting and enjoyable


Some Personal Testimony:
for (B): I have been watching my own children (now in high skill) as they learn how to research and write -- and it has been the history, much more than anything they did, for example, for English classes, that has developed their thinking & writing skills
for (C): My training is first of all in languages & literature, but HISTORY (esp. American history) and biography is my FUN reading (My wife, the mystery buff, occasionally pawns off one of her books on me. . . but she knows now to choose the ones in which the historical setting is important, and well-researched!)

Answer 2

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RE:
how can people benefit from studying history?
people, things or events?

Answer 3

History has a tendency to repeat itself. As others have stated, you learn from mistakes. Now it's a matter of size.

Answer 4

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So you cannot be lied to by psuedo-leaders who rationalize poor decisions, or take credit for economic growth they had nothing to do with. So when you have the ability to influence an outcome you can know the mistakes of the past and not repeat them. So you are less gullible and less influenced by talk radio, or by those who pretend they care but are only furthering their own agenda.

Answer 5

absolutely!!! experience is best when learned from others mistakes! What better place than a history book?

Answer 6

You can learn what are the long term consequences of some decisions. Also that the consequences are usually paid in blood

Answer 7

To learn from past mistakes.

Answer 8

It may sound a little cliche, but those who don't know history, are bound to repeat themselves.