The Power of History: Perfect Tool to Answer any Question in the Present

‘History is so boring’, ‘What are the benefits we can get with this?’, ‘History is so perplexing, and it stresses me out!’ These are just some of the things that we normally hear when history is being talked about. But do we authentically need to study history? What is the significance of studying history? We all know that history is a branch of knowledge that records, studies, and explains all past events. Also, according to Prof. Carl G. Gustavson ‘History is a mountain top of human knowledge from whence the doings of our own generation may be scanned and fitted into proper dimensions. History enables a person to see himself as part of that living process of human growth which has emerged out of the past and will inexorably project itself out beyond our own lifetime. We are the product of the past, but not the complete product.’ History has a lot of definitions, but in my case, I believe that History is indeed something that helps every one of us to remember what's in the past for us to make better decisions in the near future. Studying history really makes sense, at this point, are you still doubting about the power of history? If that's the case then let's dig deeper about the history, what are its significance, why do we need to study it, and how is learning history important in interpreting our current future social and political situation?

History is a big part of anyone's life. It normally helps an individual to know and at the same time understand where he came from. History is a great storyteller, but unlike any other storyteller, history has its own proof and evidence. When we are still young, we always tend to ask, why did the Philippines have to enter wars during the 80s and 90s? We have no idea at first, but history told us why, history gives us proof and evidence that will show why the Philippines had to enter wars during those times. The people of today sometimes didn't know about hisher own culture. As a Filipino, I know I still have so many things that I didn't know about my own culture, and believe it or not, history can help us understand our own cultures. History is indeed a great teacher because the past teaches us about the present. Talking about our social situation, the Philippines faces different significant problems such as poverty, unemployment, and many more. If we apply to study the past in this kind of situation, we can completely avoid these kinds of social problems. Just like what I said, the past teaches us about the present. Think of it this way, lack of education is one of the major reasons why we suffer from poverty. In the record of history, UNESCO estimates that 171 million people could be lifted out of extreme poverty if they left school with basic reading skills. Poverty threatens education, but education can also help end poverty. If this is the past then you must do something in the present, if education can help you end poverty then study. The past is giving us hints of what we needed to do for us to have a better present and most especially a better future. Just like in Political issues, over the past decades, Filipinos have suffered a lot because of the government of the Philippines. In the past decades, we encountered different government officials who stole the money of the Philippines which led us to experience extreme poverty. In my opinion, the Philippines has the ugliest lineup of government. I considered some of them as trash because what they did to the Philippines is just like trash. We see the situation of our country over the past years under the hand of greedy officials, let this past be a lesson for us to right the present. In just a few months, the new election for the new leaders of the Philippines will happen, the past already told us who to vote for and who's not. I'm just hoping that we, Filipinos, are smart enough to choose our next leaders. Studying the past, looking back, and trying to study and understand it really makes sense at all, indeed, History has a power that can help each one of us in our decision-making in the present.

History is a perfect tool to answer any question in the present. But in some cases, it's hard to study history because of some problems. Historians are facing so many challenges or struggle to study history or the past for some reason. Historians find it difficult to study history because of poor sources, knowledge about a certain thing, and sometimes because of a lack of explanations. Historians took so many years to study the past so we must give importance to this matter. Studying history is a must because according to Edmund Burke, those who don't know history are destined to repeat it. And the more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.