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Is history important?
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Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it

"Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it," a variation on the famous quote by George Santayana, is often used as an argument in favor of studying history.
Education History

The Argument

One of the most common arguments in favor of studying history, the famous quote by George Santayana, which states " Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" means that people who do not learn from the mistakes of the past are going to make the same mistakes. The saying is true of both world history and personal history. Countries commit terrible acts all the time, especially during times of war. For example, the Holocaust was a terrible crime against humanity which should never be repeated. When an individual makes a mistake, and they do not learn from it, they usually end up making the same mistake multiple times, such as in relationships, in school, or their job.[1] The same is true on a macro scale, with countries and their histories.

Counter arguments

Quoting the saying is pointless because, regardless of whether or not people learn from the past, the past seems to repeat itself anyway.[1]

Proponents

Premises

[P1] World nations can avoid war by learning from the mistakes of the past which led to war previously. [P2] Individuals can learn from their mistakes and grow as a person.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] War keeps happening regardless. [Rejecting P2] Some people do not learn from their mistakes.

References

  1. https://bigthink.com/the-proverbial-skeptic/those-who-do-not-learn-history-doomed-to-repeat-it-really
This page was last edited on Monday, 9 Nov 2020 at 22:28 UTC

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