Phoenix写作小组2号Issue103

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"The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."


We may lost ourselves in daily life unconsciously for its complexity, but the study of history offers us an opportunity to rethink the world around us. In this sense, the value of studying history for our daily life is undeniable. However, given that history also reveal idea and experience in a more profound level, its value extend to other field in our life.

First of all, the study of history obviously guide our daily life. We exam the different world and experience different way in dealing with this world through history. This may tell us what things we do are wrong, and how can we improve ourselves in daily life. For example, climate warming are becoming a global problems in this time. This issue is relevant to our daily lives. For if we study how people work and live in the past, we may realize that the car we use, the factory in which we earn money, all these things are response to the worse living condition. We can answer the question that why people in past did not create such problems. Their simple life may not as rich as us, but the simplicity is the path to cleaner earth. The answer to reduce the greenhouse effect seems obvious according  to the study of history, we need choose a simple way in our daily lives. Thus, the study of history is really helpful in everyday lives.

However, confining the value of studying history in daily lives may ignore other meaning of looking back past. History influence us in lots of aspects , even it is not directly impact our daily lives. Since the development of our politics, economy, culture, are all depend upon our attitude to the past. The study of French Revolution, for instance, is a valuable event in history, but not relevant to our everyday lives. For we can learn how to pursue our political freedom in a right way, and what method may be wrong. Burk, the political philosopher in 18century, argued that French Revolution may end their monarchy, but never regain its freedom. Because this revolution is so radical that people destroy their nobility,their church, their laws and so on by the improper use of guillotine. The basic social elements has been eliminated, and therefore only autocracy can reconstruct this society. In our time, many country are still fighting for the same idea, and the lessons from studying French Revolution may guide them to choose a mild reform rather than radical activities. This is not directly relevant to our daily lives, but its value are so significant that lead us to  a better world

In fact, the distinction between daily lives and other is not exist in many aspects. Until and unless we study history carefully, we cannot tell what field is relevant to our history studying. Sun Tzu, for example, is an excellent leader in ancient China. His famous book On The Art Of War gives us many precious advice to how to win a war. This seems not relevant to our daily life. Yet the study of history show that the idea in his book are applied to the chess, to improving the profits in a company and so on, which are happened everyday around us. Had we ignore his thinking because it is seems not relevant to daily lives in the first glance, we would lost his experience and insights. That is to say, a reasonable way to study history is find its value no matter it can impact our daily lives or not.

Therefore, it is unfair to limit the value of study history in the daily lives. A more comprehensive understanding of history may guide us to learn lessons in all aspects of our life.