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What is your opinion of history?

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iamnotaparakeet
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08 Apr 2010, 11:54 pm

I consider history to be the records of the events of the past. People tend to focus on the errors that historians make and then claim everything is error, or even that everything is propaganda (the ones who have claimed that "history is written by the winners" are usually the ones seeking to sell their own version of history and ideology). However, even with errors or cultural bias in reporting, the factuality of the events recorded is not 100% false. Records of the past which concur with others have more credence than those which contradict with other records. Records which list details about civilizations can be verified by archeology, such as the discovery of an item described or of a people which were not known outside of the document (like the ancient Hittites). History can be fascinating, learning about the warfare, the strategies and tactics of the generals throughout the ages, learning about the methods of construction or of sea travel. Learning about the past through the records transcribed down the millennia is, at the least, amazing.



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08 Apr 2010, 11:59 pm

"History is bunk."-Henry Ford

In all seriousness, I am a history major and history is very important for understanding our cultural backgrounds and how we arrived at where we are today. To me, the specific detailed facts in history are less important than the explanation of why a particular development was important and how it shaped later events.


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09 Apr 2010, 12:10 am

Reckon it was in a game that it said: "Those who don't look back don't deserve a future." I think it was Wild ARMS 2. <.< I find this interesting.



Sand
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09 Apr 2010, 12:17 am

phil777 wrote:
Reckon it was in a game that it said: "Those who don't look back don't deserve a future." I think it was Wild ARMS 2. <.< I find this interesting.


Nobody deserves a future. Some of us are lucky enough to have one.



iamnotaparakeet
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09 Apr 2010, 1:17 am

phil777 wrote:
Reckon it was in a game that it said: "Those who don't look back don't deserve a future." I think it was Wild ARMS 2. <.< I find this interesting.


Similar to, "if you don't learn from the mistakes of the past, then you will repeat them".



Sand
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09 Apr 2010, 5:14 am

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
phil777 wrote:
Reckon it was in a game that it said: "Those who don't look back don't deserve a future." I think it was Wild ARMS 2. <.< I find this interesting.


Similar to, "if you don't learn from the mistakes of the past, then you will repeat them".


Not necessarily. You don't have to know the past in order to have an original idea. As a matter of fact, most originality occurs amongst people whose brains have not been conditioned to past assumptions.



iamnotaparakeet
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09 Apr 2010, 5:24 am

Sand wrote:
iamnotaparakeet wrote:
phil777 wrote:
Reckon it was in a game that it said: "Those who don't look back don't deserve a future." I think it was Wild ARMS 2. <.< I find this interesting.


Similar to, "if you don't learn from the mistakes of the past, then you will repeat them".


Not necessarily. You don't have to know the past in order to have an original idea. As a matter of fact, most originality occurs amongst people whose brains have not been conditioned to past assumptions.


Originality says nothing about the intelligence of the idea or plan. Coming up with an original strategy without any reference to historical warfare tends to produce originally stupid strategies for other people to learn from when you become history.



Sand
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09 Apr 2010, 5:30 am

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
Sand wrote:
iamnotaparakeet wrote:
phil777 wrote:
Reckon it was in a game that it said: "Those who don't look back don't deserve a future." I think it was Wild ARMS 2. <.< I find this interesting.


Similar to, "if you don't learn from the mistakes of the past, then you will repeat them".


Not necessarily. You don't have to know the past in order to have an original idea. As a matter of fact, most originality occurs amongst people whose brains have not been conditioned to past assumptions.


Originality says nothing about the intelligence of the idea or plan. Coming up with an original strategy without any reference to historical warfare tends to produce originally stupid strategies for other people to learn from when you become history.


And originality creates departures from old accepted ideas that have tied those trained and subjugated by false assumptions of the establishment that is submerged in history. If you don't understand that you have no concept of how progress is made.



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09 Apr 2010, 6:09 am

Orwell wrote:
"History is bunk."-Henry Ford

In all seriousness, I am a history major and history is very important for understanding our cultural backgrounds and how we arrived at where we are today.


And why is that important? (Interested in a History majors opinion on that.)



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09 Apr 2010, 7:23 am

History is interesting.


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09 Apr 2010, 8:11 am

PLA wrote:
History is interesting.


big agree! when history is told in an entertaining way i simply can't get enough!


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09 Apr 2010, 8:25 am

history is over.
it is like a movie i never watched.
i do not care to read reviews.
it does not matter what my opinion of it is, now is the way it is regardless of my opinion.



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09 Apr 2010, 9:13 am

I find some parts of history fascinating and important but I find other parts of history boring and useless.


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09 Apr 2010, 9:19 am

History does not exist.

(Ok, I say this more as a joke)



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09 Apr 2010, 9:49 am

Awesomelyglorious wrote:
History does not exist.

(Ok, I say this more as a joke)


That vague word "existence" again.



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09 Apr 2010, 9:59 am

iamnotaparakeet wrote:
I consider history to be the records of the events of the past. People tend to focus on the errors that historians make and then claim everything is error, or even that everything is propaganda (the ones who have claimed that "history is written by the winners" are usually the ones seeking to sell their own version of history and ideology). However, even with errors or cultural bias in reporting, the factuality of the events recorded is not 100% false. Records of the past which concur with others have more credence than those which contradict with other records. Records which list details about civilizations can be verified by archeology, such as the discovery of an item described or of a people which were not known outside of the document (like the ancient Hittites). History can be fascinating, learning about the warfare, the strategies and tactics of the generals throughout the ages, learning about the methods of construction or of sea travel. Learning about the past through the records transcribed down the millennia is, at the least, amazing.

History is what actually happened in the past, of which we can only achieve partial knowledge Historical record, historical account has its uses but is necessarily incomplete and even biased. When people write of the past the select the data they consider important. That automatically introduces a bias.

Some kind of historical account is necessary to grasp what is going on now (since now didn't emerge from a vacuum). An historical account is necessary to have a rational anticipation of what is to come.

ruven