by Barry Mccormick

Created on: April 23, 2009

History: events of the past which have shaped the present. For that reason alone history should be studied. It is simply a fact that the: decisions, actions, words, wars and even love affairs of the past are directly responsible for shaping society today.

By studying history you do not only find out about true and intriguing events which happened in the past but you also receive an insight into Man. By far the most complex and elusive beings on the earth are, in fact, ourselves. A growing need in society now is to find one's identity. By looking to the past you will gain a deeper glimpse into the heart of humankind and be able to fathom the depths and breadth of the motives of man which defines us as a species. By searching through the past, both your own and in history, you will discover what defines you more.

The knowledge of history is vital to understand the present. Trying to understand why things happen a certain way, or why a country has particular stances, without knowing the history is like meeting someone for the first time and making judgements before you know where they have come from. To understand someone, you need to know more about them which is found in their past. It is the same with history. It is in looking to the past we discover how to appreciate the diversity of culture; morals; politics; and religions which make our planet an interesting place to be.

If anyone was able to turn back the hands of time, they probably would. Mistakes, unfortunately, have been made in the past. The positive side of that, however, is that knowing those past mistakes, the past is where we can keep them. Think about the World Wars and all atrocities which happened during that time. We can look at that instance in history and firmly make the decision that we do not want to return to that again.

A look to past, even though grim at times it may be, also sparks real hope. Among all the blood shed, crimes, wars and tears that the past holds you can look back and see constant thread of hope that is inherent in humanity. You look back down the road of life and see people like Wilberforce who lived to see the end of slavery displaying the grace in humanity; turn the corner and you discover Florence Nightingale who showed so much care; go a little further and take the second left and you stand face to face with Mother Theresa the embodiment of love and total compassion. If we could not look to the past to see this hope we would fall with no determination to go on.

A thought to consider throughout the day is that we all make history everyday. The decisions we make now will affect the future not only for us, but for people around us. We are making history, maybe not in major or what scholars would class as significant, but you will possibly never know the effect of one word or action you make. For that reason it is a responsibility of all to look at history and learn for ourselves how we want to shape the future. If you decide not to, it is possible the world could go to the dogs.

Man needs to know where he has come from. Knowing where we have come from helps us discover ourselves and the course in which we need to take to make positive change. It is only through studying history can we as a people accomplish this.

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