Why Does History Matter?
Why does history matter? Or - more specifically - why does the study of history matter?
As an area of academic inquiry, history has a reputation as being one of the most boring subjects encountered in school. J.K. Rowling played to this trope by making her Hogwarts’ history teacher a ghost. Professor Binns - who is literally barely there - drones on and on about the past he is stuck within, inducing sleepy stupor among students. I have to admit this stereotype fit my own once-upon-a-time high school history teacher, who also happened to be the football coach. Even thinking about that class makes me want to yawn and close my eyes.
Why do we study history? The present is so much more interesting, surprising, and pressing. Isn’t the past dead and, as such, static and dull? Can’t we just Google historic information any time we might need it? Isn’t it misleading to say we’re “exploring” history when all of its discoveries have already been made? Often, the default answer I receive to the question of why we study history is - following a shrug - “so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past?” a purpose which (while perhaps worthy) makes of history either a series of object lessons or a litany of terrors to avoid - neither of which feels very nourishing, or interesting.
I now teach history - ancient cultures, US history, world history, and AP offerings of the latter two - so it is important to me to understand why it matters so that I can (hopefully) pass some of this meaningfulness along. Below is my list of why I believe history matters.
HISTORY IS FIRST AND FOREMOST STORY and as such is alive and continually evolving. A small portion of history consists of verifiable facts and measurable data, but the majority of “history” consists of stories told about past events by experiencers of them (primary sources) or scholars - acting as intellectual storytellers - who present and defend a claim about recorded events (these are secondary sources). Stories always possess an author and a point of view - that’s part of what makes them interesting. As the fibers of past experiences are continually rewoven through the looms of fresh various perspectives, history transforms again and again into many novel fabrics. As William Faulkner famously noted, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” History as a story invites participation.
HISTORY EXISTS ALONG A LIVING, FLUID CONTINUUM; it does not represent a fixed package of data located on a specific dot along a linear timeline. What we now know as the past was once also the present, just as this moment - which was once the future - will also soon become the past. What was once past continues to inform the present from which the future continually emerges. As Einstein once noted, time as we know it is merely is a construct. The past, present, and future are intimately linked; when one stitch is pulled in a new direction, the entire tapestry changes.
In Norse myth, the all-father Odin buys a drink from the ancient well of memory. The price he must pay the well’s guardian - the giant Mimir - is his right eye. This sip of the past confers upon Odin not only knowledge of all that has been, but also knowledge of all that will be - he who can clearly see within the waters of the past is aware of what is to come.
HISTORY IS A GRAND AVENUE OF INQUIRY THAT CUTS ACROSS ALL OTHER DISCIPLINARY ROADS. Every field of academic study, as well as every aspect of our daily lives, have their own pasts. In coming to know what matters most to us, we automatically dip our toes into the history of these things, whether they be dance, family genealogy, or the the history of soccer. Everything has a past - science, law, ethics, sports, art, music, fashion, film, government, travel, self-adornment, etc. Everything. By participating in what we love and what we do, we unwittingly enter the larger story as a link between its past and its future.
HISTORY HELPS US UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN. History as a discipline is considered one of the Humanities - part of a set of disciplines named for the fact that their inquiry seeks insights into the messy and mysterious human experience (other humanities include law, religion, music, philosophy, and literature).
In recent decades, the humanities have taken a backseat academically to the sciences, but they still matter - perhaps more than ever. The humanities matter because without practicing inquiry into what it means to be human, we forget how to be empathetic, respectful, and humane to one another and without practice we lose our ability to hold multiple stories, and to hold and be comfortable with paradox.
HISTORY IS A SHAPING FORCE. The past shapes human interaction, it shapes the present, it shapes the future. History - the study of the past - is made of both empirical, measurable data AND personal perspective. How we understand history is shaped by both information AND our point of view. History is both objective and subjective, both collective and deeply personal. Exploring history allows us to practice the important art of what plant scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer calls “seeing through both lenses.”
And finally, YES - studies in history can help us become better at being human by avoiding the painful mistakes of our pasts. Together, we can imagine and create brighter futures. HISTORY CAN BE A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION as well as of warning (as the Greek Muse, Clio, once attested). As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”