Is history important?

History gives us a framework in which to shape our lives

Question: Is history important?
Position1 of 2›: History is important
Argument‹4 of 4: History gives us a framework in which to shape our lives

Exemplary examples of government, culture, and tech help shape our lives in the present and pave the way for the future.

The argument

We can look to the past to help us understand the world as it is today because overall, people don't change. The ways we run our governments and societies, produce food, create technology are largely consistent. There is even technology in the past that rivals our own, such as the mysterious Baghdad Battery found in Khujut Rabu. There is even some ancient tech that is more advanced than our own. Having a working knowledge of the past can help us as we continue to shape the world and the way things are done across all eras and cultures. We can use what we have learned about the world to build a framework for our lives in the present, using both our mistakes and our successes to work towards building our futures.

Premises

[P1]Human nature and the basics of society are largely consistent over time, so the past helps us understand the present. [P2] Knowing how earlier eras governed, fed themselves and built technology gives us a working knowledge across cultures and times. [P3] We can use the mistakes and successes of the past as a framework for shaping our own lives and futures. [C] Therefore, because it gives us a framework in which to shape our lives, history is important.

Counter-arguments

The people of today are more educated than the people of the past; we can't move forward by staying stuck in the past. Old rules and forms of government don't work for today's cultures and societies. Old ways of thinking are a detriment to the freedoms that are enjoyed by women and minorities today. Old tech is outdated and obsolete. The only way to move forward is to create new and innovative ideas, and these can only be found in the here and now.

Rejecting the premises

[P1]We have evolved and advanced far beyond the peoples of the past.

[P2]Modern tech is more useful and relevant to us than ancient tech--even those ancient technologies that are "more advanced" than ours.

Proponents cited

"Guest Post"
“People rarely associate the past with advanced technology, but looking at technology in the past can still teach us lessons. Engineers often get trapped in their own culture and focus on improving what they know rather than trying entirely new solutions. Ancient cultures provide other models that they can examine for useful innovations. For example, green architecture often involves earth structures that are based on ancient designs. Modern technology has improved them, but the idea came from the ancient world.”
Tara MacIsaac
“We’ve lost the secret to making some of history’s most useful inventions, and for all of our ingenuity and discoveries, our ancestors of thousands of years ago are still able to baffle us with their ingenuity and discoveries. We have developed the modern equivalent of some of these inventions, but only very recently.”