Persuasive Essay: History Is Important

The dictionary definition of history according to Oxford languages is “the whole series of past events connected with someone or something.” Although history is connected to events, it goes so much deeper than that. History is not only about big occasions, like the Titanic or wars, but everything that has happened before now. I know so many people at school and beyond who think that history is a waste of time, and I disagree wholeheartedly. History and time are things I'm very passionate about. Time isn't a straight line as some might think, taking us from past to future, but more an array of loops, and zigzags. Time is past and present, intertwining them backwards, forwards, and inside out. I think that history is important because it helps us learn from our mistakes and better the future.

One reason why history is important is because it helps us grow from our flaws. Mistakes have helped create some of the best inventions of our time. Stuart Firestein, an author conducting studies at Columbia University, states that “Two-thirds of Nobel laureates have announced their winning discovery was the result of a failed experiment.” Mistakes are a part of life, and many mistakes have been made in history. This study shows that mistakes are one of the best things that you can learn, and reflect on because scientists use them as a learning tool rather than a burden. Trial and error in inventions have created some of the most effective and intricate creations of our time. Learning from our mistakes also helps us grow our knowledge. In the book The Wave, written by Todd Strasser, a history teacher wants to teach his students a lesson about Hitler and the Nazis of World War 2. He forms the Wave, an experiment that operates the same way that Germany did, and the students go along with it until the point of hurting others who are not in the Wave. The teacher then admits that it's all a ruse by saying “You turned your equality into superiority over non-Wave members. You accepted the group's will over your own convictions, no matter who you had to hurt to do it” (pg 134). This is an example of learning from our past. Taking such a big fault and turning it into a lesson paid off in the end and gave the students their individuality back as well as new opportunities. When we embrace our history and past, it allows us to grow and change for the better.

Looking back on the past can help us know what to do in the future. History is not just about people, but everything around us. According to Cameron Gibelyou, a science advisor at Michigan State University “Cosmologists can make predictions about how fast the Universe might expand in the future, based on an understanding of how fast the Universe has expanded over time up until now.” History is not just people, but the past as a whole, and using it we can make fantastic discoveries for our future. In this case, humans can predict how quickly the Universe is expanding as well as general knowledge about space from what we know now. We can also predict things like the course of fossil fuels in the future, which makes it possible to take measurements to keep us safe. In the novel The Wave, the purpose of the experiment was to help students understand how people could support Hitler. Mr. Ross used history to predict the outcome of his students' reactions to The Wave and created a great learning opportunity for all of them. This proves that history is very important because people like Mr. Ross were able to use it to teach others and better the future of his students. He not only answered Laurie's question from the beginning of the book but was able to create a better sense of self for them to benefit them later on in life.

Some might say that history is a waste of time. That dwelling on the past through textbooks will not allow us to move to the future. However, I don't agree. History gives people a sense of identity because it is what we connect through, not only with others but with ourselves. As I mentioned before, the definition of history is not one of a textbook, but every experience we have had in a fluid motion of events throughout everyone's life. History is important because it is what gives people meaning. Without history and the past in general, we wouldn't be where we are today.

In closing, history is important because it helps us understand our future and learn from our past. This can be shown through scientists and their studies around failure, and how it is necessary to find something incredible, and growth to better understand our future, and become a greater society. So when someone walks down the street, unable to find value in the past, I hope that they are able to find my same passion from it, because the past is who we are, what we were, and who we will be.