Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
(a) Can knowledge of the past be beneficial for those of us living in the present? Some people think this information is useless, others believe it’s significant. The former consider it obsolete. Although significant portion of the past knowledge can’t be directly applied to the present day, learning about the past creates opportunities for scientific discoveries, prevents from repeating mistakes of the past, and contributes to the understanding of the purpose of our existence.
Technological progress is induced by new scientific discoveries that would never occur without knowledge of prior achievements in the certain scientific field. Major innovations occurring in the industry are based on new scientific theories put into practice. Discovery of micro particles – electrons, protons and neutrons- in Physics revealed the possibility of creating the flow of electrons under the influence of the magnetic field. Every production process today is based on this latter discovery of electric current, which wouldn’t be made without past knowledge of electrons existence.
Besides providing knowledge of fundamental discoveries, past experience helps prevent recurrence of negative events in the history of our civilization. School children learn about world wars cited in the history textbooks so that when they grow up they don’t repeat mistakes of their predecessors. One of the brightest examples is atomic bomb dropped on Japan during World War the Second. Knowledge of such negative experiences is necessary for humanity to continue its existence.
Moreover, learning about the past helps satisfy people’s desire to understand who they are and why they exist. History and Religion are necessary for a discussion of these main philosophical questions. If people haven’t been learning about the past, Bible texts, which give answers to these questions, would never be preserved till the present day. In the same time Bible is the main guide for majority of the world population today.
Consequently, it’s imperative to learn about the past, because this knowledge is valuable for the development of our civilization. Technological progress, avoidance of past mistakes, and contribution to understanding of the purpose of existence can only be achieved through understanding of our predecessors’ lives and deeds.
(b) Students in every part of the world pass some courses in history when they are in high school. Some of the students like such courses and some don’t. The people who don’t like to study history always argue that it is the story of the past and doesn’t add any value for their present and future life. On the contrary, I think they are wrong. I believe that studying and learning about past will help us in future decisions in our life.
First of all, consider the example of different wars in the history, which has happened between different countries. What were the main reasons for first and Second World War? How did it end? Now if we compare the advantage and disadvantage of such wars we will see that something was very common. Someone who had been in power becomes so proud of his power that suddenly acts like a blind and doesn’t see other facts around him. This has resulted several disasters in our history. People can learn to be open and negotiable when they know that 90% of the wars ended in loss for either side of the countries fighting.
The next benefit, which we can gain through studying the past, is about the life of successful people. It doesn’t matter how you define success, whether you define it with money or knowledge, they both converge on some unique characteristics which we can learn only by studying the past wealthy or scientists lives. We can find out about the factors, which most influenced their success and find some common factors between them. This is good resource for us in deciding for future actions in our life.
In conclusion, I believe there is lots of value in studying the past. It helps us better align our strategies toward success. It also helps us to learn about the mistakes of other people and teaches us not to repeat them. People who think there is no value in learning about history and the past are blind to the above-mentioned facts.
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