issue54 历史类的，大家拍拍~谢谢

kitty_yyUID: 2292666

TOPIC: ISSUE54 - "History teaches us only one thing: knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today."

The speaker asserts that the study of history can only tell us that the past is no use to help people to make important decisions. In my view, the speaker overlooks the value of history, which is the treasure of the entire human beings. Pandering the important role that history plays when people making decisions, I disagree with the speaker.

I concede that the world has changed so much by now that it is difficult to treat it the same as before. Consider the great development of technique and science – the invention of internet and computers for example – which has covered and changed almost every corner of our lives. As people in the past know nothing about clone and merit killing, how could we except to get some advice to such kind of problems from history? However, the essence of the world and the things people encounter have been little changed, that is why the history is so valuable today.

First of all, history can prevent people from making similar mistakes as before. History is replete with examples of the blunders people made, which people still tend to make frequently nowadays, although not exactly the same. It is history that teaches people how to avoid them today. For example, by recognizing the lasting damage caused by atomic bombs, people are much causious before using atomic warfare, while by knowing the rapid infection of SARS, people realize the significance of preventing infectious diseases and even know the solution of these kind of problems. Without the study of history, similar mistakes may cause similar problems again and again, which will surly slow down the development of the society and the technique.  

Morever, it is the people in the past that inspire the people nowadays. The victory of American revolution is a case in point. It is the spirit of the American founders that inspire the people who are still fighting for their freedom. The stories of many celebrities in the history also illustrate the point. Consider the endeavor of Edison when he was trying to invent the light bulb, as well as the brave of Hellen Keller who proved to the whole world that she could do the same as well as others, which give countless persons who are facing difficulties the hope of success and the reason to struggle.

History is a continuous entity which always repeats itself in different ways. As Stephen Spender said, history is the ship carrying living memories of the future. By apprehending the history, people can better understand why the world is like today and what to do. Realizing nothing about the history of World War Two, how could the people understand the situation of the world today? It is the origin of the changes that provide the way to solve the problems. That is not to say the history is exactly the same as today. Otherwise, it is the essential similarities that can not be neglected when we have careful scrutiny of the wars and the changes of the world.

In sum, the history is the experience of the humanity which can help people avoid mistakes and do better decisions when encountering similar problems. For better development of the individual as well as the whole world, the value of the history can not be overlooked.

[ 本帖最后由 kitty_yy 于 2007-2-1 15:30 编辑 ]