[i习作temp] ISSUE103 历史研究的价值【求拍，有拍必回】 [复制链接]

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发表于 2010-3-12 22:14:29 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

TOPIC: ISSUE103 - "The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."
WORDS: 644 TIME: 00:42:56 DATE: 2010-3-12 19:29:46

The value of studying history not only relies on its relevance to our daily lives, but relies on its own existence as well. Of course, the part which history can throw light upon our contemporary lives is worth studying. But history as a whole is the precious legacy that our ancestors leave for our human beings, which deserves sufficient attention and emphasis.

The long-lasting adage, "History is a mirror.", describes the main function of study history, which is compare our lives today with the days in the former years to check whether we are moving on the right direction. We experienced more or less similar situations or face similar problems some years ago. Our ancestors at that time did use their wisdom to apply certain solutions to solve those problems. No matter the solutions worked or not, it gives us hint how we should deal with the problems. For example, on the social level, history tells us that over-intensive governance, like Henry III, will eventually harm its people and lose support from the public. Our political parties can learn a lesson from Henry III's failure and focusing on building a democratic society, where people can be more satisfied with sufficient freedom and rights. Only when people's basic needs for freedom are met, the society can be stable and the reign of the party can sustain. By learning from this kind of history that is closely relevant to our daily lives, we can come up with better solutions to problems and increase our living standard step by step.

On the spiritual level, the study of history also provides us with valuable spiritual legacy to encourage us keep on trying. The story of Galileo tells us we should never be afraid of authority but challenge existed theories bravely. The story of Beethoven raises our passion to fight with hard lives. The story of Lincoln encourages us that our inborn status is not the impediment to achieve success. All those history characters provide us with excellent spirits which we still need in our daily lives. That is also where the value of studying history lies in.

However, the part of history which is not so relevant to our daily lives still deserves attention and honor. The value simply lies in its existence. An apt illustration here is the ancient artworks. Those artworks survived after thousands of years to tell us what the past life is and how people think at that time. They reflected not only the technology skills then but also the spiritual status of the people. If we spend sometime in a historical museum, we are likely to be shocked by the graceful pieces made by our ancestors. The beauty and the existence of the historical artworks alone bring us joy that already shows the value of history, even if these artworks or the content of them have little relevance with our daily lives.

Moreover, study history is one of the most useful accesses to identify who we are. Without knowing what happened in the past, how we can live a life like today, we human beings tend to be confused and lack of self-identification. The study of history just satisfies these inner desires. Through studying history, we have unveiled the mysterious past of human beings, of the earth, or even of the universe. Without the study of history, this information may never be obtained. And we may always live without assurance of our past and future.

In sum, to evaluate the study of history, we should not only focus on the part where history is more or less relevant to our daily lives. The existence of history itself already proves its value. It brings us senses of astonishment and joy. From our psychological perspective, the study of history also helps us identify who we are, thus encourages us to continue establishing better lives.