Why study history (lifestyle)

(Credits):
-employer is Florida South Western State College
-written by tgthewriter1





Truman


WOH 1012 History Of World Civilization To 1500

30 Aug. 2015
Why Study History Response to Dr. Stearns and Dr. Fears
According to an article called “Why Study History” which was written by Dr. Stearns, history teaches people how to understand people and society. War can be evaluated by studying past historical events. Stearns believes that it is very difficult to evaluate war if a country is at peace. We need to history learn how we developed technology during times of war. In order for a country to be best equipped to defend it must have the best procedures. Next, History is also required to create new formulas from earlier scientists. Most formulas that were created in the past are used by most scientists today. Scientist base their theories off previous scientific theories that was created many years ago. Dr. Stearns suggests that if scientists did not have previous knowledge to base their work on, scientists would have to create a new theory that would be less or more accurate than before. For example, human behavior is a theory that was based on previous scientific theories. If the human behavior is constantly changing, then there would be no basic or standard human behavior theory to base a new theory on. Futhermore, the past determines what happened in the present. Stearns believes that history gives us an explanation of why things perform the way that they perform in society. History teaches people how things change and what continues to change even if it is not wanted. History is needed for trying to make sense of a subject at a faster and more effective rate.

Response to the Wisdom of History by Dr. Fears
Dr. Fears believes that the reason events occur over and over in the world is because most people do not learn from history. Democracy for example, is an ungrateful political system to its leaders according to history. Winston Churchill, a previous Britain Prime Minister, was not re-elected for his great achievements during World War II. Churchill joined forces with United States and Russia in order to win the war. Churchill lead Britain to victory by using a creative strategy. However, Churchill was not re-elected for Prime Minister by his democratic country. The people of Britain did not morally elect Churchill even though it was probable. Dr. Fears believes that the reason Churchill was not re-elected was because of power. Power is element that makes countries repeat the same mistakes over and over. We want power to control everything. People want to have more land and resources so they succumb to certain deals of power. But, power must not be used to control everything. If everything is controlled, people will not have a choice in what they do. Next, Dr. Fears proposes that the reason people do not learn from their mistakes is because most people believe that the lessons learned in the past does not matter in the present. The past will enter again in the future if it is not learned the first time. History is a guideline for a road that a person chooses to take. Events will repeat themselves if they are not learned in the past.