Poll: History, an important subject?
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Considering we are of a species (Like most if not all) that generally ignore rational thought when making decisions (speaking about the majority of people) I would say it is important to learn, but people refuse to learn from any mistakes they've made anyhow and will act on spur of the moment reflex rather than actual critical thinking.
Okay, sorry for offending you. I wasn't calling you stupid or anything, if that is what you thought I meant. I just know people who think that all the discovery channels are really boring and I thought you might have bean one of those people. Sorry for upsetting you, I try not to do that.elitepie931 said:
High-school history is incredibly lame, but you will realize later in life how important it is. When I took American History in college I could feel my mind blossoming. History provides a context for thinking about the present.
[HEADING=1]HERESY TO SPEAK SUCH WORDS![/HEADING]
"Those do not know history are doomed to repeat it."
Not only that, it's pretty entertaining. For me.
But have you ever heard the phrase, "History is bound to repeat itself"?
Yeah, well, it's obvious to see how history would help us to at least try to prevent the repeat, if it is a bad repeat. History also helps us develop a different view of the world, and maybe a little insight into the mind of humanity. When I was ten, my view of the world split into two. And did I love my second view.
Also:
[HEADING=1]HISTORY. IS. ENTERTAINING![/HEADING]
Millitary History Channel ftw!
"Those do not know history are doomed to repeat it."
Not only that, it's pretty entertaining. For me.
But have you ever heard the phrase, "History is bound to repeat itself"?
Yeah, well, it's obvious to see how history would help us to at least try to prevent the repeat, if it is a bad repeat. History also helps us develop a different view of the world, and maybe a little insight into the mind of humanity. When I was ten, my view of the world split into two. And did I love my second view.
Also:
[HEADING=1]HISTORY. IS. ENTERTAINING![/HEADING]
Millitary History Channel ftw!
While that's a valid point and I wouldn't ever contend that an entire subject is completely useless, what is the point in forcing someone who plans on studying medicine or engineering? What about people who plan on going into a trade?RossyB said:
I hated having to do subjects like history, english and music in school (I didn't hate doing the subjects, just that I was forced to do them) because I was always going to go into something maths based. While those subjects (well, except music) all helped develop my various written skills, all of those necissary would've been developed writing the various lab reports I am required to write at uni. Ultimately, those subjects have done very little to further my career, instead of the heavy focus on subjects like geography, english and other 'arts' subjects in highschool, I would have benifeted from a lot more physical science classes and maths.
I understand that everyone is unique and everyones education should be different, but, well, that's kind of my point. What's appropriate and benificial to some is a complete waste of time for others. Imagine how lost I would be as an engineer if I didn't have an in depth comprehension of algebra. As a history major, I'm guessing you've never had reason to use any of the mathamatical concepts you were tought in highschool. I'm not sure that subjects that the majority of people have no need to understand should be manditory, it doesn't encourage intellectual development in people who don't want to be there nor does it increase the culteral understanding of those who have no interest. Basicially, outside of highschool subjects like history should be an elective, especially if other subjects like english are manditory (in my senior english classes, politics and 20th century history were always significant points of discussion as they were always relevent to the texts, my year 12 texts were George Orwells 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and Graham Greens 'The Quiet American').
Would you mind explaining to my why, as an engineer, I need an in depth knowledge of renaissonce era history as was taught in highschool? How am I likely to recreate any of the scientific or artisitic breakthroughs of that era by not having an in depth knowledge of what happened? Why is that a bad thing?ma55ter_fett said:
Just because it encouraged thought development in you doesn't mean that it does in everyone, or even the majority. I'm not trying to say it should be removed from schools, or even that it shouldn't be manditory of a basic history to be taught (especially in primary schools), but as I've said above, learning about renaissonce era history was a waste of my time. As interested as I am/was in the two world wars, the entirety of what was taught in the history class I partook in as a young highschooler was "there was some wars. In world war one, there was lots of propoganda and people beleived it. Now let's watch a mel gibson film". What was the point? We were too young to comprehend any serious subjects, the majority of students didn't even have the literacy skills or even conversational skills to have any meaningful discussion. I would bet serious money that many of my classmates don't even know what started the first world war (which is the one we 'studied' in more detail). In that context, and that capacity, it was a complete waste of time.300lb. Samoan said:
TheFacelessOne said:
Looks like it just did.elitepie931 said:
If you take anything way from this thread, always remember:
History is bound to repeat itself.
Also, those who don't know it are doomed to repeat it.
Also, history provides context for the present.
And it's bound to repeat itself.
Over and over again.
My friend, you didn't upset me. It really did make me laugh when I thought about it, I watch all those shows on the History Channel yet here I am considering it useless.CloggedDonkey said:
You didn't be a complete jerk while making your point and I respect that.
I'm actually majoring in History, so, to me it is quite important. There is so much knowledge that can be gained from learning about the past. and those teachers are correct, history does repeat itself.
High school history only goes so far (I learned about america for the better part of 12 years) but taking World Civilizations in college expanded my horizons much further.
And also we don't need anymore ignorant fools walking around.
High school history only goes so far (I learned about america for the better part of 12 years) but taking World Civilizations in college expanded my horizons much further.
And also we don't need anymore ignorant fools walking around.
It's no coincidence our advancement took off at an increble rate around the time people started to record their events and realized it's benefits.elitepie931 said:
i think you should just learn the basics... theres no need to know the date and time of every english kings daily shit-break
If you want to work in a profession that requires you to interact with people from different cultures, even within your own country, it's important to understand the history of where they come from. You can't understand the culture of China without understanding the history of China, you can't understand the culture of Texas without understanding the history of Texas.
I too plan on becoming a doctor, and I've found a great deal of value in my history class this year. Yes, the actual info will be of negligible use, but the class is AP and is getting me prepared for university nicely. And, without knowing history we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.