【Flyer杀G】小组-7.24作业 issue221

wagner1985UID: 2838595

221. "The chief benefit of the study of history is to break down the illusion that people in one period of time are significantly different from people who lived at any other time in history."


        History, other than religion, philosophy or theology, is the only kind of similar knowledge among different generations, which consturcts and reflects the understanding about our world. Could we get rid of the illusion that people in one period of time are significantly different from people who lived at any other time through the study of history? In my opinion, hardly can we attain that.

        To begin with, if historians do not obey the some basic rule of objectivity in their methodology, we cannot even get a description with more reality, not to mention the benefit stated above. In a long time, all kinds of history records, such as official documents, epic, biography or even folk tales, are always mixed with sort of the subjectivity, prejudice, myth (superstition). To understand the fact of former event, historians firstly have to exclude all of these unreasonable things so as to draw a persuasive conclusion, which need the evidence provided by the anthropologists and archeologists. In most of times, people, influenced by their ideology and development of all kinds of science and sociologies, are really difficult to realize what the objectivity is. In other words, scholars in different time and nation maintained the distinguished standard of value neutrality. Insofar as people cannot sustain the objective standpoint, it is by far impractical to demand historian provide an insightful analysis.
        Furthermore, including the illusion about certain time, sometimes, the study of history actually produces the fantasies about our world. It would be used for distorting some fact to gratify some purposes, because people cannot extricate themselves from the obsession on some so-called glorious eras, which are likely to be made use by some politicians with or without consciousness. Autocrats often establish their glories on the self-esteem of a nation by comparing their government with the distorted history. Once people have been used to enjoying this fantasy from the distortion, the brain-washing tradition formed and became inexorable. Even if variety of evidence have been discovered and provided, they can still neglect the cruelty and darkness of their history and highlight or exaggerate the positive side. I
          Even if the study of history is really to the extent that reduces the unreasonable worship on certain time, more benefits of study of history are not supposed to be overlooked by us. First, the study of history is imperative in satisfying our desire for knowledge. Intense interests for uncover our identities is no less than our natural, which is related with the basic philosophy problems——what the human is and how to live as a human. Second, the study of history mirrors our level of understanding of world. As we have mention above, the study of history in the past is mixed so much illusion and subjectivity. But the progress in methodology since 20th century brought about many new discoveries and conclusions., which in turn remind people of some ponderings about the methodology of social science overall And the tendency clearly will not be reversed for any reason. Last but not least, the study of history reduces our ignorance and uncertainty about the world. As mentioned above, instead of relies on some unproven or mysterious claims, in long time, the history is the only rationality subject which accumulate our knowledge about fathomable world. Although mixed with some mystery or exaggeration, it tells us it is our past other than some mysterious power determines our present and convince us the world is understandable, which construct all the basis of any science.
          To sum up, the study of history enriches our wisdom, but hardly retains any complete objectivity. So assuming the study of history could to break down the illusion that people in one period of time are significantly different from people who lived at any other time in history may overestimate the meaning of the study of history. And the statement cannot summarize all the meanings.