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Our first and most basic learning process occurs as a result of the behaviors we engage in being punished or reinforced; it is this simple process that helps shape the behaviors that we exhibit throughout our entire life. Fears are instilled through punishing circumstance while reinforcement provides the incentives for us to continue doing the things we do. Although the processes of learning grow in complexity, society, as an organism-like body, exhibits similar learning patterns. The attitudes, morals, expected behaviors, economy, and lifestyles of individuals exist because they were reinforced by society; the greatest proof being that these aspects of society survived. As for those that did not, including those that may have been beneficial to society, such aspects were discouraged and punished out of existence by previous generations. Looking back on history is one means of helping ensure our society engages in beneficial survivable activities, but where we fail to learn from history is when we neglect history, misperceive history, or try to correct history when history was correct.

Observational learning requires the ability to perceive that certain activities under certain conditions resulted in a particular punishing or reinforcing stimulus. Therefore, society only learns from history when people know about a historic failure or success. Truly those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it. Furthermore, when someone fails to understand why a behavior was punished or reinforced or misunderstands what behavior is being punished, it is likely the behavior will be repeated. Sometimes efforts that fail in the past were unsuccessful because they were tried under the wrong circumstances or were carried out incorrectly; therefore, history contains failures that can help current generation be successful. On the other hand, failing to understand why the efforts of the past failed can lead to more failure.

Above all, history can be a teacher as it provides the opportunity to learn without experiencing all the failures of the past. Furthermore, history has already served as a teacher, because it is what shaped our society as it is history that determines if a society survives and how it functions. If people can truly understand the lessons of history, they can learn what to avoid, they can learn reasons why beneficial ideas failed to catch on or work out, and learn what mistakes people are probably going to make. Moreover, history is a teacher so long as people learn the right lessons from it; then again, it may not be our society's teacher, but the one after us.

Learn more about this author, Matthew J. Geiger.
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