issue103 第八次作业

jenniferganUID: 2443583

TOPIC: ISSUE103 - "The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."
WORDS: 553          TIME: 00:60:56          DATE: 2008-4-2 16:22:31

As we know, almost history is a necessary course in every university of every country, that is to say, history is learned by most people in the world from this or that kind of way. Why society places so much emphasis on history? Is it only because history relevant to our daily lives? As far as I'm concerned, history is so important not only because it is relative to our daily lives but also imfluence the development of the society.

First of all, history indeed reflect our everyday lives all the time. Take the most common thing--eating as an example. In western countries, people use knives and folks to eat, but in eatern countries, people often use chopsticks to eat. It is determined by historical reasons to some extent. In acient time, the ancestors of western countries started to usr knives and folks, and this was related to their food--almost meat, chicken and bread. However, in eastern countries, their ancestors eat with chopsticks because the main food of them is grain. Such custom has lasted for a long time. It is relative to our historical custom and conventions.So, history have influence on our daily life even like eating, sleeping and so forth.

In addition, leaning about great human achievements of the past provides inspiration. For example, a student inspired by the courage and tenaity of history's great explorers might decide as a result to persue a career in astromomy. This decision can, in turn, profoundly affect that student's everyday life. Even for students not inclined to pursue these sorts of careers, studying historical examples of courage in the face of adversity can provide motivation to face their own personal fears in life. In short, learning about grand accomplishements of the past can help us get through the everyday business of living, whatever that business might be, by embolding us and lifting our spirits.

Furtermore, mistake of past can teach us as a society how to avoid repeating those mistakes. For example, history can teach us the inappropriateness of addressing certain social issues, particularly moral ones, on a societal level. Attempts to legislate morality invariably fail, as aptly illustrated by the Prohibition experiment in the U.S. during the 1930s. Hopefully, as a society we can apply this lesson by adopting a more enlightened legislative approach toward such issues as free speech, criminalization of drug use, criminal justice, and equal rights under the law.

Studying human history can also help us understand and appreciate the mores, values, and ideals of past cultures. A heightened awareness of cultural evolution, in turn, helps us formulate infromed and reflective values and ideals for ourselves. Based on these values and ideals, students can determin their quthentic life path as well as how they should allot their time interact with others on a day-to-day basis.

In sum, history indeed plays an essential role in our daily lives, and it also influence the mind of us, it teach us how to deal with the things we accord with, it tells us how to recognize the society. The speaker fails to recognize that in all our activities and decisions, from our grandest to our most rote, history can inspire, infrom, guide and nurture. In the final analysis, to study history is to gain the capacity to be more appropriate to the society.