Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Learn History

History is one of those subjects that some students just hate to learn. They find it boring and useless, and often wonder why they have to learn it.

A while back, I had this one student I was tutoring ask me why he had to learn history.

He said that the stuff he was learning in that class was useless because the events had already happened and don’t affect him.

I really didn’t know how to answer him.

All I said was history class is important because it shows you what works and what doesn’t work, based on the past.

And I also told him that he should go ask his social studies teacher in school that question because I’m his English tutor.

But regardless, that question was stuck in my head because I like history.

I like reading and learning about the events that happened in the past, but I didn’t know what the importance of that information was.

So, like many who have questions, I took to Google.

I typed in “what is the importance of learning history” and boom, a bunch of sites and blogs were at my disposal.

I read through some of them and here are some of the best reasons:

1) Learning History Can Show You the World

Reading about history or watching videos about the subject can teach you about the many societies that existed and show you how those people lived and evolved.

It will help you better understand people and their cultures; it will make the foreign not foreign anymore.

2) History Will Show You How Your Culture/Society Evolved

By learning the history of your nation (or ethnicity), you will learn how it was developed and how it evolved.

It will take you from the beginning stages, before it was a nation, to the middle stages, when it was developing, to now, as the nation that you love.

You’ll develop a greater understanding of why certain traditions are important and why it’s celebrated. You’ll have a deeper understanding of the culture.

3) Knowing Your History Will Strengthen Your Identity

When you know where you came from or understand your past, you have a stronger sense of identity.

History class will help you develop your identity.

It will teach you how your culture was developed and how the society that you are living in was created.

You will learn why you act in certain ways and why you have certain characteristics.

4) It Will Show You Destructive Events and Show You How to Prevent Them (Or Its Alternatives)

By learning about and analyzing historical events, you can learn how and why certain events happened and the aftermath of those events.

With this knowledge, you will be able to recognize clues that could lead to disastrous events and find ways to prevent them. Or you can use this knowledge to find alternative solutions, as Yuval Noah Harari wrote in Sapiens:

“This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies.”

5) History Can Teach You to be a Good Person

By learning about great people and how they behaved, you will recognize similarities between people and see patterns in their behaviours.

With this knowledge, you can adopt some of their characteristics and apply them to yourself, pushing you to be a better person.

By learning how people (or groups) make others feel, you can -hopefully- learn how to (and not how to) treat others.

Final Thoughts

Now, I know this list isn’t very in-depth.

I just wanted to give all of you a brief look into why I think history is important and why you should learn it.

I also hope that this post will stir up some of your curiosity about learning history.

But if you want to read something that is more comprehensive, check out this article from the American Historical Association.

But what are your thoughts on history? Do you think it is important or do you think it is just a waste of time? Share your thoughts below in the comments.

P.S. If you want to learn more about history, all you have to do is search up historical events on YouTube or head to your local library and borrow some books that look interesting. You can also just search events or eras up on Google.