by Leonard J Sherrott

Created on: April 12, 2011

The importance of History.

Throughout history humanity has shared a common motivation: the need to eat, sleep, communicate and take care of themselves and their loved ones.  Over thousands of years of mankind’s existence on this planet, the thing that has changed is the manner in which we go about our daily lives. The benchmark has been our ability to adapt to better ways and improve the standard of life. In short, we have evolved.  Along the way, concepts have been tried, some successfully, while others proved less fruitful.  Understanding where we are historically, allows some insight into where we are going. More fundamentally, there is one instinct which we share as a species and in some ways with every other creature on the planet. The fatal impact of ‘curiosity’ is more commonly associated with our feline companion, yet it’s arguably the chief motivation for everything humans do. We like to know about our past, about our neighbours’ past.  Learning about the reasons for our differences and similarities is all part of the human psyche.

To that end there is probably no hobby that is more curiosity driven than genealogy, a very popular pastime throughout the world. The intrigue of discovering the family history, looking in the closet for skeletons or treasure troves has fascinated us for centuries. Today, many proficient family historians have become professional genealogists in response to a burgeoning knowledge market.  Reasons for the indulgence range from pure interest to speculation about inheritance rights. Family history has become more accessible than ever with a global information revolution.   Digitized online records can verify anecdotal reports as fact in an instant.  

Aviation has probably shaped our contemporary evolution more than any other modern discovery. It started with a quest to become airborne just to prove it could be done. Just over one hundred years ago, no person had managed to defy gravity in a flying machine. Since the day when the Wright brothers achieved the unachievable, flight has become the ultimate mode of transportation for the masses across vast distances. History poignantly reminds us of the outbreak of World War I shortly after which played no small part in accelerating the development of aviation technology and mechanization in general. In due course, piston engine power was replaced with jet engines and later adapted for passenger travel.  The next step will become digestive material for future historians studying our quest to colonize other planets, probably from their comfortable office on Mars.

Medical science has enjoyed quantum leaps discovering cures for diseases which once could not even be stabilized. Without previous history of successful operations and procedures, today’s advances might not be possible. Putting it on the record was almost as important as the breakthrough itself.    

The most important lessons to be learnt from our forbears are their mistakes. The moral question of atomic warfare, for example, is still hotly debated in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Did the end justify the means and could it happen again? Hindsight is a wonderful asset that allows us to consider all the known facts. We can analyse the past, benefit from the advances and learn from our misgivings. Hopefully, it will equip us to provide a future that our children can appreciate. Nothing is more important. 

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