However, it is a fascinating reality that what is History? is still the most sought-after reference for both students and teachers. However, it could encourage mindless memorizing, a true but unattractive aspect of the subject. For one thing Carr’s arguments and the debates to which Carr contributed might seem to us, as we attempt to address the question as old-fashioned. It is important to study history since it is vital for individuals as well as society, and also because it is a beautiful thing. The 60 years that followed encompass postmodernism and the rise of gender studies, and the’memory boom’, to mention just a few examples.
There are many approaches to discussing the actual functions of history, as there are a variety of historical skills and a variety of ways to understand the significance of history. Today’s students live in a different world of learning. The definitions of the value of history are based on two basic facts.
Carr’s theories are more in line with the current sensibilities of our time than those of his opponents, who remained committed to the idea the objective history, free from any current notions. The study of history essay helps us understand people and Societies. Contrarily, Carr saw history as fundamentally a field of problem-solving.
First of all the past is a repository of data on how individuals and societies operate. History scholars should not only rid from the belief that they can somehow be apart from the world they reside, he suggested. Understanding the behavior of individuals and societies is a challenge even though many disciplines attempt to do so.
They should actually accept the notion that their study of the past is tailored to the demands of the current. A sole reliance on the current information would unnecessarily hinder our efforts. One can instantly discern the attraction of this argument today. What can we do to evaluate the effects of war when the country is peaceful, unless we utilize the historical records? What can we learn about the power of genius, the impact of technological advancement or the role beliefs shape the family life of a person in the absence of the information we have about events from the past?
Social scientists often attempt to develop theories or laws regarding human behavior. In a society where humanities scholars are being pressured more than ever to justify their importance more than ever, studying the past ‘for the past’s sake’ doesn’t cut the mustard. However, even these theories are based on historical data with the exception of limited instances, usually artificial ones where experiments could be designed to examine the way people behave. However, I’m not sure this is all there is. The major aspects of the functioning of a society such as massive elections, missionary activities or military alliances are not exact tests. In my opinion, the long-running fascination with Carr has something far more fundamental in the way we see the relation between the past and the present.
Therefore, history serves even if it is not perfect as our lab and the data of the past should be the most crucial evidence we can use in our quest to understand why our species is as complex as it does in social settings. In particular, we’re likely to be less inclined than past generations to make rigid distinctions between ‘history’, on the one hand and’memory or ‘heritage’, to the contrary. This is the primary reason the reason we should not avoid the past: it is the sole evidence-based basis for contemplation and study of the way societies function and everyone should be aware of the way societies function to manage their lives. In addition we’re more democratic as to what we consider history to belong to: to whom are the people who have lived through it and how those is able to benefit from the knowledge it provides. History helps us understand change and how the society we live in came to be. Every historian views the relationship between the past and present in a unique way.
The second reason why history is an unavoidable topic of study closely to the previous. It was Carr’s biggest achievement to pinpoint the tensions that arise from this connection as the main foundation of the discipline. The past is the cause of the present and the future. "Histories are helpful in telling how we got "here"’ Every time we attempt to understand the reason for something happening–whether the shift in political party control within the American Congress or a significant shift in the death rate or a conflict within the Balkans or in the Middle East region–we must look for causes that were in place prior to. Faridah Zaman Associate Professor of Historical Studies, University of Oxford. Sometimes, a relatively recent history can suffice to explain an important change, but most of the time we must look further back to determine the root reasons for the changes. One method to find the answer is to ask yourself what is history for and why?
The most common answer would be that historical accounts are valuable in revealing the story of how we got here.
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