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Reply 60
kildare
Aye that's the problem with Carr though, it sounds so wonderful when you read it but if you try and argue exclusively based on his teachings it's so easy to be torn apart. Why didn't you apply to Cam in the end anyway?

Because that interview shattered my confidence and nearly made me change my course because I thought i wasn't good enough to do it.. that's why!
Reply 61
Therefore, if there is such a thing as historical truth,

1. Why haven't we found it - i.e. why is there so much disagreement surrounding history

2. How do we know when we have found it.

Would history be any fun if there was no debate and we could just write a definitive history of the world

And if your argument is 'there is truth, we just cant reach it' - then whats the point in trying.
there is such things as historical truth, for example there is no doubt that ww2 occured.
what we do not have is a standard view of the whole of history.
Reply 63
History can be very interesting. don't u think it is fasinating to learn about anient cultures and their way of life.
claire1985
Just kicking off another history thread.... what is the use of history in modern society?
I'll start off.....
I think that if you don't know your past you can't know that the future can be different from the present. Therefore, history is a catalyst for change (for the better hopefully!) in our society.
What do you think?
xxx Claire xxx



There is no point in history, I mean its not like it teaches you how to cure diseases, run a business etc. What is the use? You just learn a load of stuff about times long gone, which is pontless really. It is as they say HISTORY!

I don' see the point of it honestly.,
Reply 65
claire1985
Just kicking off another history thread.... what is the use of history in modern society?
I'll start off.....
I think that if you don't know your past you can't know that the future can be different from the present. Therefore, history is a catalyst for change (for the better hopefully!) in our society.
What do you think?
xxx Claire xxx


History is a means of comparison in formulating current decisions, it describes where we have come from in terms of the development of cultural norms and beliefs, it teaches us valuable lessons in what courses of action to and not to take. History is also a great political tool with interpretations on factual evidence being varied and consequently controversial...apart from that, I would feel lost without History personally...for me it is certainly the most interesting aspect of my studies whilst also being the most challening. The skills that the study of History develops are important too...such skills include a capcity for rational and analytical thought, the ability to transmit such thought to paper as well as other skills of research, critical and evaluative reading..all in all History is the dog's bollocks :biggrin:
Dude
History can be very interesting. don't u think it is fasinating to learn about anient cultures and their way of life.


Yes maybe but there is no use in practical use in having that knowledge. For example Biology teaches you about how the living world works which can be used to help cure disease and stuff. Even subjects like sociology are more useful than history because they help you understand society and the problems in society which can be used to be a social worker or something. History learing about loads of old crap has no0 use!
Reply 67
a_musical_gay
Yes maybe but there is no use in practical use in having that knowledge. For example Biology teaches you about how the living world works which can be used to help cure disease and stuff. Even subjects like sociology are more useful than history because they help you understand society and the problems in society which can be used to be a social worker or something. History learing about loads of old crap has no0 use!


History has helped the moden world. Some tactics taht were used during WW2 were first used by Julilus Ceacer. and how did the genrals know about that, through history.
Reply 68
a_musical_gay
Yes maybe but there is no use in practical use in having that knowledge. For example Biology teaches you about how the living world works which can be used to help cure disease and stuff. Even subjects like sociology are more useful than history because they help you understand society and the problems in society which can be used to be a social worker or something. History learing about loads of old crap has no0 use!

God, you sound like Mr bourgeois Brown...History does have a lot of use to society...for example, how would the Law be interpreted without the use of precedence, which invariably involves looking at the past....how would you know of how to advance science without knowing what has constituted to reaching the present level...how would political thought develop without having anything to compare present ideals?
Reply 69
Blamps
God, you sound like Mr bourgeois Brown...History does have a lot of use to society...for example, how would the Law be interpreted without the use of precedence, which invariably involves looking at the past....how would you know of how to advance science without knowing what has constituted to reaching the present level...how would political thought develop without having anything to compare present ideals?



Fair point but it still doesn't seem to have any practical use really. Mainly it is like a hobby or interest type subject. What is Mr bourgeois Brown? I am proletariat!
Reply 70
Maskall.
Fair point but it still doesn't seem to have any practical use really. Mainly it is like a hobby or interest type subject. What is Mr bourgeois Brown? I am proletariat!

Its uses are very much practical although History influences everything in a much more clandestine way
Reply 71
Maskall.
Fair point but it still doesn't seem to have any practical use really. Mainly it is like a hobby or interest type subject. What is Mr bourgeois Brown? I am proletariat!

If one does not see historical knowledge, then the skills that I have mentioned have much practical use
Reply 72
Dude
History has helped the moden world. Some tactics taht were used during WW2 were first used by Julilus Ceacer. and how did the genrals know about that, through history.



Yes but it isn't learnt from history per se. Knowledge gets handed down from one generation to the next. The generals would have learnt the tactics from the people before them and so on.
Reply 73
Maskall.
Yes but it isn't learnt from history per se. Knowledge gets handed down from one generation to the next. The generals would have learnt the tactics from the people before them and so on.


Yes but invariably the study of History helps to reinforce, refine or reinterpret current knowledge and opinion...the Common Law, for example could not be remembered by most mortals in its raw form...thus when consulting the common Law in a textbook for example, the study of the customs and cultural norms of many previous generations is being employed, i.e cultural History
Reply 74
history helps understand culture. Without knowing the history of a period and country you can not understand it's literature or culture. Also our past history is inextricably linked to our present. For all you people that think its crap, it shows you don't have natural curiosity. Havn't you ever wondered why the holocaust occured, why Britain unlike most of Europe never had a fascist or communist dictator or why democracy failed in countires like Spain and Portugal. So many things can be answered by whats gone on before. I loved history a-level and i'm doing modules of history at uni.
Reply 75
Without knowing the wrongs of the past, how can we move on into the future.
Reply 76
The pursuit of historical truth, misses the point.

We will always look at history in view of the present. Histroy is not, as some have argued, the accumulation of objective facts. History is written by individuals who are memebrs of particualr groups within history itself. As it is neccassarily subjective, we hear little of say the actual history of those who have lost wars or who have been oppressed, we must see it ina different light.

To argue that we are not products of our past and that history means nothing to us as a society is rubbish. It is a fundamental component to our perception of the world not to mention its actual material manifesation as seen in our political systems and economic systems. We need only look to the taboo concerning that historian, whose name eludes me, who argued that the Holocaust did not occur. In this instance we see how history is always relevant to the present and how we feel about current issues.

The act of reflecting upon history, does not free us from its grip but allows us to go forward, always however in relation to what has actually past (that we can never completely "know") and present day history that is neccassarily subjective.

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