Blog 1: Why History is Studied

Gilderhus gives many reasons why people study history; the following are a few of those reasons.  People can use historical events to help them explain their take on a situation to other people more clearly than if they had to make up a scenario.  An outcome to the situation then can be seen from history as well.  The second reason follows on the last.  Studying history can help prevent similar bad events from happening again, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack, which can be greatly prevented from happening again through security increases.  A third reason some people study history is for the sheer fun of learning about the past.  They can read about history kind of like they would a book and picture what it was like during those times.

I think that I probably use history to explain things I am trying to get across (although I cannot give an exact example).  It could be as simple as comparing a ship that sank the same way the Titanic did.  Instantly the person you are talking to knows that the ship probably hit an iceberg which damaged its hull and then sank.  The first thing I may remember about learning history is that I was taught that learning about history helps us from making the same mistakes again, which I still think is a very important aspect of learning about our history.  As for learning about history for the entertainment value of it, I am not that person.  One of my friend’s family is like this though.  If I have any general history questions I always go to them because they often spend time learning about history for fun.