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What is the relevance of the past in the present?
Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present
Abstract
This is an argumentative essay on whether learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present or not. In the essay, a controversial view of the subject is established. Through various correlations with the fields of technology, economics, geography and the society with respect to time, a conclusion is reached. Most of the scientific facts that were discovered many years ago are used in the day to day life applications. Without learning about the ancient events, there would be no other option other than starting life afresh, as if nobody existed before. Such a lifestyle would not only be boring but it might endanger lives. The present life is built on the past. Therefore, according to this paper, the knowledge of the past enables us who are living in the present to improve our lives and anticipate for a better future.
Keywords: Past, present, future, life, knowledge, value
Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present
I strongly disagree with the statement that “Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present.” For us to argue correctly, we need to know the definitions of the words ‘past’ and ‘present’. From the scientific point of view, past is dynamic. What we do now becomes past immediately it is done. Historically, past may refer to those events that occurred millions of years ago. Various environmental, technological, social, historical, physical and economic factors influence the life of a person at any particular time. All these aspects are time dependent and essential in supporting my argument.
The knowledge of past events in any discipline is very important. Taking terrorism, for example, our understanding of the various incidences of violence helps nations and communities to put security measures in place to avoid a repeat of the same. According to (Jeremy, 1995), the study of the past military experience gives us a lot of valuable information in a number of different aspects like geography, psychology and weapons. This awareness helps us avoid historical mistakes, hence safeguarding us.
In the fields of technology, medicine, science and economics, it becomes very easy for us to compare the challenges we faced in the present with those that were faced by our predecessors. This aids us in solving our problems easier, better and faster. The people living in the present are therefore not likely to be stressed of life encounters as the solution might have already been found in the past. The present society utilizes the past to make life simpler and joyous. (Rosenow, 2003)
From the foregoing reasons, it is evident that learning about the past helps us understand its direct influence in who we are, what we do and why we are doing our day to day activities. We then learn to easily link up the segments of life to form one comprehensive conclusion that every aspect of history is important regardless of occurrence time. Therefore, learning about the past has a lot of value for those of us living in the present.
References
Jeremy, A. (2005). Warfare in the Western History. Boston: Academic Press.
Rosenow, E. C. (2003). The Art of Living – The Art of Medicine. Trafford Publishing.
