Issue103 希望大家指导一下

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

A study of history benefits the contemporary society a lot, in spite of the differences between the past and present. The author claims that the study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives is unfair, because the value of knowledge is far more wider: whether in academic fields or spiritual world of individuals.

It's true that enormous cases showed that history could enlighten our thoughts in solving daily problems. The nature of humanity is similar despite that the days are different, and so in dealing with the relationship with others, the story of the past could indicate how to do when it seems hard to take any actions. For example, novice would always be intimated at the start of his or her stepping into jobs, and continue blundering without a knowledge of getting alone with each other, this process could be much shorted if he or she has read more about the history, which reveals more about the true nature of the humanity and help the individual in judging the true attitude of his or her colleagues, chiefs, or client. So it's true that studying the history could help our daily lives.

However, it's a better understanding of the culture instead of merely to deal with the daily lives that a study of history values. The past, though could not stand for the present, explains the source of the culture, and composes the present culture. Our custom, for example, traditional festivals, are usually related to the history, and show the values and ideas of the certain culture. In addition, with so many stories of the past, the emotions and aesthetic of the most people could better expressed, which compose the basis tune of certain arts of the culture. It's unimaginable that poets know little about the past, and reading the literature also need a sense of the history.

What's more, a more wider utilization than daily lives could be brought about by looking in to the history: medicine, politics, economics, military, and so on: for medicine, it's the experience gained from trials of the past that form the current medical system, which is more evident for the traditional medical system of China; for politics, history reveals the rules in participating in the game; for economics, laws of the operation of the market such as laws of demand and supply, or the reasons of economical crisis could be found by analyzing the historical cases; as for military, the ability of reasoning and deciding could be cultivated by studying the campaign of the past instead of taking part in real ones. So the benefit brought by studying the history really answers to many fields of the current society.

In conclusion, the benefit brought by a study of history covers various fields, and enriches the mental world of contemporaries.