The Primary Reason for Studying History: It Civilizes Us

History: Discipline, Foundation, Mold, and Comfort

The Primary Reason for Studying History: It Civilizes Us.

Inherent in the definition of history as a discipline is the thought that history is a disciplining agent on human behavior. The purpose of discipline is organization, particularly self-organization, and it is only through the lens of history that we can see clearly how to organize ourselves as civilized beings. This organization is reflected by national and sub national groupings, religious, legal, and business codes, and our relations with others (both interpersonal and international), among others. Where history has recorded the associations and dissolutions among the peoples of the earth, in addition to their discoveries, from fire to the internet, from the wheel to the rocket, these recordings have helped organize and guide humans through the incredible past several thousand years of our development.

Additional Reasons to Study History:

Understanding and Improving Ourselves and Our World

There are of course other compelling reasons to study history, as enumerated by Peter Stearns. The first, and arguably most important, according to Stearns is that history provides a basis for understanding, and ideally, living peacefully, among different peoples, although it is true that this knowledge is also used to wage wars. Through his argument on the historical study of alcoholism, Stearns also implies that it helps increase our understanding of social phenomena within our own society. The joy of studying history for its own sake is another reason Stearns touches on, which is arguably true of all disciplines. History is a tool, as well, for developing ourselves, as citizens, workers, critical thinkers, and moral beings according to Stearns. And while Stearns does not state it explicitly, the sum of his reasoning suggests the conclusion that George Santayana reached over a century ago, "Those who cannot remember