Why Should We Study History?

by DoktorSoviet

I wanted to entertain a different sort of question to you guys today. It is a bit more philosophical and more related to things like historiography than to history itself, but as historians I have no doubt you will have interesting answers.

My question is why should we study history? What is the purpose of this knowledge?

The main reason I ask this is because I was debating a history professor over a specific notion. You see, the reason I started studying history was to educate people about the past to understand the future, thus going to the old adage of preventing ourselves from making the same mistakes of the past. He disagreed, claiming historians don't think like that, but since this was during class there was not enough time to elaborate on our arguments.

In my opinion, history must be learned so we can understand our world today, as well as understand what course that world is moving towards. We must use the knowledge of past changes and issues to guide our course. However, many academics I have spoken to adopt a more passive outlook, simply seeing history as a way of categorizing the past. My argument is that learning about the past is useless if we don't apply it to the present and future. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is useless, and it is part of the reason why academics have a reputation as snobbish and "highfalutin". To me, I see in the past that many learned men who could've stopped major tragedies instead chose to be passive with their knowledge, and I resent them for it. After all, evil men do evil things because good men sit by and do nothing. I personally started to study Middle Eastern history, particularly the history of Islam in the Near East, mostly to educate people about something they know so little about, to prevent them from making uninformed decisions and thus repeating past mistakes. I believe the greatest problem facing the modern world is that the ignorant feel so compelled to act, while the learned are so passive.

However, I want to hear the viewpoints of actual historians on this one. Do you guys agree or disagree with my viewpoint? Do you have other viewpoints you would like to suggest?

Polybios

I've copied below (slightly edited) the substantive part of an answer I gave to a similar question last year.

I should add that the list below assumes that studying history is important and has a use. This can be and has been disputed. Why can't we study history just for the sake of it?

Lots of people have thought about why studying history is important. They come to slightly differing conclusions. I'll list some different reasons why learning history is important below; the relative importance of these reasons can be debated, but all have been put forth as being of some importance:

  • History provides insight. - History allows people to find out whether or not something actually happened, and how we know that it did (or didn't). The is where the historical method is important.
  • History lets you think about what's good and what's evil, what's effective and what's ineffective. While historians try not to judge the past, history allows people to compare current issues with issues in the past. If something bad is happening, how have people in the past reacted to it? Have individuals or organisations been able to influence events for the better? If so, how?
  • History can inspire. This inspiration can be great or small. Great deeds by great men and women of the past can inspire people today to try to achieve great things. But also the smaller things can provide inspiration. A photo of a peace activist putting a flower in a rifle can inspire people today to be more peace-loving.
  • History lets people think critically. This is somewhat related to the first point I mentioned (how do we know that something happened), but it's also more broad. If one realises that a historical source can give a false image of what happened, one might realise that current books, papers, images may not provide an entirely accurate view.
  • History makes people politically involved. This is not really a goal many historians like to admit, but for many decades this has been the explicit goal of history education in many countries: to make "good citizens" out of students, to make them love their nation-state.
  • History leads to self-knowledge. Without history, how can you know who you are? How can we know who we are?
  • History leads to contemplation. Studying history often leads to big questions such as: Why is there conflict in the world? Why or some countries more prosperous than others? How are societies shaped? This kind of fundamental, almost philosophical, questions lead to a better understanding of the world.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list, nor is it a list which all historians would agree with. The points above have been adapted from Glöckel, Geschichtsunterricht (1973) and have been commented on, elaborated on, built upon many times since.