Issue103

The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives.
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Does the study of history has value only when is relevant to our daily lives? The question will gain a positive answer, but something it suggests is not the case.

Above all, we should be aware of one thing that the study of history relevant to our daily lives does be useful. Take an important human requirement such as identification. Through biological procedures, scientists could identified one’s DNA which may tell you how you like your ancient on genetic level. This is considerablly advance. But a person, as one of her/his group, has a history. For many persons, studying the history of their own family is the most obvious use of history, for it provides genetic information and understanding of how their family changed and varied. Who am I? Where do I come from? How my parents, parents of my parents, etc. look like? How did they live? Are there any thing remain the same between me and them? All these questions can not be solved in technique way only. History is indispensable in explaning and understanding these problems.

How about those which do not refer to our daily lives? Do they contribute our lives? My answer is not, however not because they are not valuable but I don not think there are history that is indifferent with modern life, that is what the title statement suggest and I think is not the case.

Let us focus on the definition of history. History is the way people in the past did things, the remaining of prehistory society, old buildings, old books, old things of techniques which reflect cultures, peoples, society in the past. Things happen continuously without being break out, which means we can not just seperate the whole precess of human being into several past one of which called “history”. What is in history is something in modern life too but in different ways. In short, there is no history indifferent with out daily lives.

History gives us experiences, history gives us beautiful apperacne, history gives us knowledge about how things changed. History helps resolve long-term problems. To fully analysis a long-term problem, it will be neccesary to handle plenty of material of different eras which need historical records. History contribute to moral understanding. History is the main way in which people establish good citizenship. History exists nearly everywhere.

Admittedly, there does be things of history which seem to have no practical use such as a stone-axe which may be used by pr**** people, a small house built thousand years ago, some strange cloth material found under the ground. Although these does not play the same role in modern society as in their own era, they will absolutely have new things to do. The stone-axe may be evidence of certain brand of ancient people, the small beautiful house can stimulate local trip industry and local economic in turn, the strange material can be good researching material. In another word, even those historical factors which seems useless have their own position.

So, now do you think study of history has value only when is relevant to our daily lives? Since all study of history are relevant to our daily lives, we will surely give a Yes.