Let's get literal here:
The past can only hurt us or effect, ( did I spell it right ? ), us if there is forward time-travel for the people and forces that were working in days gone by.
As I don't think that there is such a thing as forward time-travel then I am happy that the past is going to stay just where it is and it is not going to jump on my shoulders and catch me out. 😉
Does history influence us?
It should! I mean, we don't go to history class for nothing. They don't teach us history because they just feel like being mean and stuff. They teach it to us to understand how the country we just happen to live it was founded, how it works, what mistakes it has made, so that we may not make the same mistakes.
"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
-george santayana
"We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events."
- gernda lerner
Originally posted by Samurai Guy
Of course we are flawed. We will make mistakes, but that is why we document said mistakes, to avoid making them in the future. But, this is apparently not the view of some. (Nobody in particular.)
Keep in mind that some ppl manipulate history for their own benefit. So not all documented history provides points for our mistakes. Rather they can be used to distort things in the past and make us think what present should be like.
I think most societies are under the impression that history is something that just keeps moving steadily forward, removing us from the past, which was uncivilized, towards a future that just keeps becoming more and more perfect, till in the end we'll have reached perfection. why then bother too much about the past when we're leaving it so rapidly behind?
Originally posted by Paxelius
Line:hold that thought. I don't belive in a perfect future - there will always be suffering - we are not leaving the past behind, we build our present on the past.
I didn't mean to say that that's what everyone believes (me included.)
still, I do believe that it's a widespread belief, especially in the western part of the world, that time is linear and that we'll become more enlightened as time goes by. this can create a contempt for the 'less evolved'/'uncivilized' past as well as for the countries less 'developed' than ours.
We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events.
Originally posted by WindDancer
Keep in mind that some ppl manipulate history for their own benefit. So not all documented history provides points for our mistakes. Rather they can be used to distort things in the past and make us think what present should be like.
that is very very true. different history teachers and writers of history books in different regions, often get the causes of the civil war way different. i grew up mostly in alabama, and the reason the civil war started was because of economic problems with trade between the north in ths south. i just moved to south dakota, and suddenly the war started because of slavery. and now no one is probably quoite sure because they all get it mixed up.
We are our history
Its the reason why we do everything we do.
Its the reason why Jesus was crucified.
His teachings are the good thats in the world and the freedom and life we take for granted.
Its the reason why we get up everyday to make money to fuel our greed and buy crap we dont need.
Thats the reason why we are unhappy and atheist
Thus the reason why we have the nuclear bomb.
Its the reason why we will eventually destroy everything left thats good in this world
Your soul is the reason to search the past and find the answers we are all looking for.
I'm reading it, but I'm not getting it.neither does HP, guess thats why the potential is still hidden.
haha
yes, my writing is a little jacked up i must agree
Jesus and Christianity are a huge part of world history, and in turn has had a huge effect on who we are today.
more of an effect that alot of people are willing to accept it seems.
we are our history, because before you and I, there was every single other person and event that caused the world to be exactly what it is today.
I wonder where you and I would be had Jesus never existed.
A large part of the goodness and mercy we have today came from Jesus.