The Utility of History

*Originally written 08/02/2015*

History is one of the subjects which all children are required to learn: the history of their country, the history of Western Civilization, and the history of the world. Like so many others, history class involves the delivery of staggering amounts of historical facts with the expectation that students will memorize the information and repeat it later. In school, students seem to appreciate the importance of the information they are given; outside of school, those students question its actual relevance. What is the study of history good for? How will knowledge of history help us in the future? These are the questions I seek to address here.

The quick answer that one usually receives in response to these questions is that history teaches us lessons. History repeats itself, we are told. By becoming familiar with the arc of history, we can be more aware of current historical trends and act to change them for the better. After some reflection, however, it is clear that this answer is not quite accurate. The subject matter of the historical sciences lies exclusively in the past. History can tell us nothing about the future. The historical record does not in itself provide any knowledge that would be useful in completing the individual tasks of tomorrow.

History is always the study of complex phenomena. Whereas the physical scientists can establish causal relationships by isolating different variables in laboratory experiments, historians are relegated to observing events involving many tangled causal relationships. Only through the use of theories from other disciplines can any sense be made out of the data of history.

That is not to say that the study of history is useless. There is one skill that is of tremendous use in our lives which is honed through the study of history. This is the understanding, or Verstehen. After a historical event has been analyzed with the tools of logic, economics, and the natural sciences, it is the task of the historians to elucidate the unique and individual elements of the event. Although it is impossible to explain these elements scientifically (by reducing them to their causes), the historian can understand them because he is himself a human being.

This understanding is a mental tool that we all use, not just in studying history, but in all of our daily interactions and in anticipation of the future. Its development can have a dramatic effect on our social relations (in the broadest sense of that term). Studying history gives us an opportunity to use and strengthen our understanding abilities.

Unfortunately, this is not often how history is taught. Instead of exposing students to the satisfaction of researching and struggling to understand a complicated historical problem/event/mystery, schools force-feed raw facts to their students. This information can be useful for understanding, but only if students are allowed the opportunity to understand. Tragically, this is not the current practice in most curriculums.

This lack of emphasis on understanding may be one of the causes behind the current intolerance that is overwhelming the nation. The blatant lack of tolerance for differing viewpoints may, in fact, be a lack of ability to understand other viewpoints. When an individual does not possess a strong sense of Verstehen, he has nothing to measure the actions of others against besides his own subjective standards. He does not understand that all men and women are acting individuals, like himself, using means to achieve valued ends, with the ultimate goal being happiness. Indeed, he does not even try to understand them; rather, he blindly condemns them. If he sought to understood individuals with viewpoints different from his own, he may not come to agree with them, but perhaps he would at least let them live in peace.

History, therefore, is useful, and important to study. Not because the subject matter of history provides valuable information for future decision-making, but because the skill used to study history, human understanding, is necessary to relate to and interact with one’s fellow human beings and the study of history is an excellent vehicle for the development of this skill.