People all around the world seem to never pay attention when historical subjects are being presented. They say "That doesn't affect me, it happened so long ago!" or even "No need for me to listen or even learn about this since it's in the past.". These people believe that the past does not affect their present, however, the past does affect the present. The past does affect the present and what makes that true is karma, past wars shaping how we live, and the technologies available to us.
Karma plays a significant role in the past affecting the present. This is seen through the thought that if you have a good past then you'll have a good present. For instance, if you study weeks in advance for a test that you take tomorrow, then your present self should thank your past self because of how well prepared you were. Also, this is seen through the way that you behave. If as a child you were a brat who never listened to their parents and kept pestering everyone around them, then you will probably act that same way today in the present. This also goes with the way that people act towards you; if during your childhood people always made fun of you and teased you, then in the present you probably won't have the best outlook of yourself. On the flip side, if you were nice to everyone as a child and had a lot of good friends and stayed positive, then in present day you are probably living a good, healthy life.The past also affects the present by former wars affecting the way countries are. If the Native American wars didn't happen then we'd probably be sharing this land with a lot of Natives. If the civil war never happened then slavery might never have been abolished. There can be so many "if this war didn't happen then this would be different" but since those wars did happen, it has obviously affected the present. The technologies that are used during the war that was used in the past are still being used today because they had shown how effective they were in the past. For example, poisonous gas and propaganda were used back during the first world war, and they are still being used today.
Past technologies provide present technologies their structure of support. Without Benjamin Franklin inventing the light bulb in the past then electricity might not be a thing in the present day. The camera was first invented in 1816 by Nicéphore Niépce. The past cameras had to have the pictures developed or even printed immediately (with no do-overs). However, because of the growth of technology, cameras are able to be a high-tech resource present day.
The past has affected the present in multiple ways, a few ways being through karma, how past wars shaped countries, and the technologies available to us. People need to understand that it's important to learn history so that they won't repeat the same mistakes that our ancestors did. It's like that saying, history repeats itself. Even the wisest person is not considered wise without being knowledgable about history. So, the next time that someone says to you "I don't need history", lay down the facts for them.
Citations:
The Guardian, Süddeutsche Zeitung, El Paîs, La Stampa, Gazeta Wyborcza and Le Monde. “First world war: 15 legacies still with us today.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 Jan. 2014, www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/firstworldwar. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
“History of the camera.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Sept. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_camera. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
“Vintage Cameras, Movies And TV Programs.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/deborahjennings/vintage-cameras-movies-and-tv-programs/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
“War Propoganda.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=war propoganda&rs=typed. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=what goes around comes around&rs=typed. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.
Yes, Katlynn! LAY. DOWN. THE. FACTS!
ReplyDeleteIt always blows my mind to think about how quickly technology changes and adapts - that in only 200 years we created the first camera, to now living in an era where almost everyone carries one around in their pocket!
Your point about how important it is for people to understand history and how impressive technological advances are make me wonder... which subject area do you think is most important for people to study - Sciences or social studies? (I promise I won't hold anything against you, we all know I'm a bit biased!)
To be honest, I think that they go hand in hand. Social studies will always have science located in them, and you can't have science without history. If you had one without the other then you would never get anywhere in life. There would be no new inventions, no scientific breakthroughs... just wars about politics.
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