Why Study History? by Philip Smith https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory What are the different reasons for studying history and how is it useful to us? en-us 2015-09-07 05:42:26 UTC 2025-10-25 23:31:41 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.storage.googleapis.com/portrait/pocketwatch.jpg To find out why things are the way they are today https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630096 2016-01-28 01:50:29 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630096 Because History is interesting! https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630129 2016-01-28 01:50:48 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630129 it is fun? https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630141 2016-01-28 01:50:54 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630141 To gain knowledge of past historical events that impact today's society, giving us a key understanding of why thing are the way they are today  https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630309 2016-01-28 01:52:23 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630309 We learn from the past! https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630316 2016-01-28 01:52:27 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630316 Learn from mistakes https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630319 2016-01-28 01:52:28 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630319 Just cause https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630376 2016-01-28 01:52:56 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630376 So we can learn about humans https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630402 2016-01-28 01:53:10 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630402 Smiley face :) sclea18 https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630405 2016-01-28 01:53:11 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630405 Mr Smith is the only teacher I like. https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630413 2016-01-28 01:53:19 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630413 Historians are often asked: what is the use or relevance of studying History (the capital letter signalling the academic field of study)? Why on earth does it matter what happened long ago? The answer is that History is inescapable. It studies the past and the legacies of the past in the present. Far from being a 'dead' subject, it connects things through time and encourages its students to take a long view of such connections.All people and peoples are living histories. To take a few obvious examples: communities speak languages that are inherited from the past. They live in societies with complex cultures, traditions and religions that have not been created on the spur of the moment. People use technologies that they have not themselves invented. And each individual is born with a personal variant of an inherited genetic template, known as the genome, which has evolved during the entire life-span of the human species.So understanding the linkages between past and present is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the condition of being human. That, in a nutshell, is why History matters. It is not just 'useful', it is essential.The study of the past is essential for 'rooting' people in time. And why should that matter? The answer is that people who feel themselves to be rootless live rootless lives, often causing a lot of damage to themselves and others in the process. Indeed, at the most extreme end of the out-of-history spectrum, those individuals with the distressing experience of complete memory loss cannot manage on their own at all. In fact, all people have a full historical context. But some, generally for reasons that are no fault of their own, grow up with a weak or troubled sense of their own placing, whether within their families or within the wider world. They lack a sense of roots. For others, by contrast, the inherited legacy may even be too powerful and outright oppressive. https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630471 2016-01-28 01:53:57 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630471 understand the origins of modern political and social problems https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630541 2016-01-28 01:54:32 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91630541 you left us! https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91634181 2016-01-28 02:38:47 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91634181 don't leave us again!  https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91634830 2016-01-28 02:47:52 UTC https://padlet.com/psmit160/whyhistory/wish/91634830