Issue221新手刚开始写还不太懂规矩 忘大家指教

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谢谢！！



221: The chiefbenefit of the study of history is to break down the illusionthat people in one period of time are significantly different from people wholived at any other time in history."



One famous aphorism by Spanish philosopher George Santayana reads: Those who cannotremember the past are condemned to repeat it. This implies no great difference betweenhistory and present. Indeed, history study teaches us the facts that people ofdifferent times could live in similar situations and basic human natures seldom change, and therefore benefit the modern society significantly. But detailed differences between eras and other main contributions of history study should not be negated in a sophisticated evaluation.

History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes a lot (quote from Mark Twain). People indifferent periods of history are likely to encounter similar events and live inalike circumstances and thus we can exert former experiences in solving today’sproblems and predict the future. For instance, in 1907 and 1929 respectively,large scale of economic bubbles burst in the United States. Banks broken andpeople are out of work. The two economic recessions were both soon spread allover the world and ultimately, they both led to the World War. Great similarities in both phenomena and deep economic, political reasons were foundfrom examinations by later historians and economists. Once again, worldwide financial crisis emerged in 2008 due to almost the same reason ----- economi cbubbles, borrowed prosperity, credit crunch andstock market crashed, and evoked same social reactions----- company bankruptcy,unemployment and social panic. Government and people suffered a similar headache that had troubled our ancestors. However, history and our forefathers provided us with plenty of datum and experience that today’s economists observedto make predictions, and that governments utilized to take the financial turmoil under control by establishing accommodative monetary policy and so forth.


History benefits us with the consciousness which is a main cause of the rhyming history that human nature seldom changes, helping us resolve many long enduring social and political problems and prevent recurrences of historical tragedies. In both 1907 and 1929 financial crises that mentioned above, people reacted in similarways of fear, violence and demonstration. The reasons for the reactions, and forboth American Independent War and China’s Anti-Japanese War, for the Sexual Revolutionand today’s homosexual demonstrations, for The Luddites and present various strikes are all rooted in the nature of humanity. We human beings are born freeand equal, we long for independence, love and a better life, once being abused ofthose rights and nature, we fought back, and thus caused social conflicts,violence and unrest. Being aware of these unchanging human natures, efforts,from the Declaration ofthe Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the First Amendment, made to establishfree and democratic nations never stop and we surely are enjoying a better society.

Although our society benefit a lot from knowing that people of different time aresimilar, the difference between people and other advantages history has brought should also be emphasized. Detailed differences, as the embodiment of the evolution of human society, should neverbe neglected. People of different times hold different values and ideas that must be taken into account while we borrow experience from the past, otherwise they would not work out properly. Besides, history study also benefits us greatly with the accumulation of thoughts and intelligence in which our society are formed today. We take history class of a specific discipline before we developnew philosophies of that field. By doing so, wisdoms and ideas of ancestors could be adopted and revised and continuous innovations could be achieved.

History is where we come from and where we will goes into. Just as the old American say going: "If you want to know where we are going, ask us where we'vebeen." History puts human experience in context, and allows us tounderstand ourselves as a people and a culture. It helps us understand past triumphs and tragedies, and gives us the tools to try and succeed where othershave failed. It gives us a frame of reference to consider the possible future(s) ahead of us. Once earnestly studied, history can survive and future will thrive.