history has nothing or little to tell us

Everything around us has a history, long or short. A technology, an invention, or a family all has its own past whether we like it or not. To some people, however, learning history is a boring task of memorising long lists of names and dates which they will never use, while others consider learning history useful and fun.

People who do not like history say that studying the past is a waste of time. They think that ways of thinking, science and technology and social systems in the past were outdated and therefore bear little relevance to the present-day problems and their possible solutions. They ask questions like “What does the history of African slaves have to do with me?” or “How does knowing when humans learned to make fire benefit my job as a computer engineer?” Also, they argue that we should not spend too much time studying the past as it simply distracts us from focusing on the present.

However, thousands of years of human experience and wisdom do have something to teach us. For example, Charles Darwin taught us that only the fittest can survive, which is more than ever true in today’s competitive society. Thomas Edison gave us an inspirational example that success only comes after persistence and hard work. Furthermore, learning history can help us develop a thoughtful and critical mind. As we try to understand why things happened in the past, we can make more informed decisions in our present-day life and work.

I think history has a lot to offer us, and we have to study it in order to better understand the present as well as preparing for the future. But learning history is not the same as learning from it. It is sad to see that people have been learning history but are still repeating the same mistakes again and again like war, violence and injustice. (315 words)