Why study history?

Since 2010 John has said that the past still shapes the present and that history is an exercise in empathy; he keeps using it to explain events such as Ukraine, and notes it gives no certainty about the future. Hank says knowing the past places us in a continuum thousands of years old, and that looking back is instructive and fascinating.

Axis: history is essential: the past isn't past and it builds empathy ... history is of little practical use

Positions by date: 16 records in 16 videos. The position did not change in these records.

John

date	how	position	video
2010-11-11	first on record	John answers why study history: the past isn't past and still shapes the present; more than that, history is an exercise in empathy that makes us better at living.	REIGN OF TERROR: The French Revolution, Part III 00:04:12
2014-03-04	restate	John says he gave more historical context than the news because it shows that the pull between Western Europe and Russia in Ukraine is not new.	Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical Context 00:06:08
2018-01-02	restate	John wants a forgotten book from a deeply polarized time in American history that might be relevant to us now.	BRING IT IN 2018 00:03:14
2018-02-06	restate	John says the changes we seek almost always prove harder than we first think, but looking at history in lifetimes shows change can and does happen anyway.	Sawdust Bread 00:03:03
2019-06-25	restate	John says it helps, when thinking about what we believe we know, to remember that history is littered with stories of starlings.	Seemed Like a Good Idea: Eugene Schieffelin and the European Starlings 00:03:24
2021-06-01	restate	Reading it, John kept thinking of Alice Walker's line that all history is current.	My Two Favorite Books of the Year 00:01:50
2021-10-08	restate	John says we can use the past to understand the present and imagine the future, but it can never give certainty about the future or the present; one benefit of studying the past is reminding us of that.	On February 3rd, 2020, I Wrote a Video I Didn't Make. Here It Is. 00:02:52
2022-03-15	restate	John says that to understand the unfolding catastrophe in Ukraine it is really important to have historical and political context.	Ukraine and Russia: What Caused the War? 00:00:00
2023-05-16	restate	John says what fascinates him about history is that so much might happen, and then only one set of things does.	Did TB Cause World War I? 00:04:23
2023-06-13	restate	The museum reminds John that history is, as Stephen Dedalus put it, a nightmare he is trying to awake from, but also much else: history can be an encouragement.	touched by a king 00:02:19
2025-02-25	restate	John says the world we share is a product of all the worlds we used to share.	EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS 00:08:43
2026-08-25	restate	John thinks this forgetting is partly why the fight against infectious disease is regressing even in rich countries.	The Great Thing about Infectious Disease 00:03:53

Hank

date	how	position	video
2011-05-25	first on record	Hank says we are obsessed with remembering where we lost battles, but it is more important for our culture, maybe our species, to remember where we lost our humanity and moral sense.	Thoughts from a Battlefield 00:03:00
2013-02-08	restate	Hank: consciousness of the past places us in a continuum thousands of years old; without that perspective we might be culturally stunted.	The Space Time Continuum: Thoughts from Dublin 00:03:21
2014-06-20	restate	Hank says it is important to understand the prehistory of internet video, to know where it all came from.	Pre-History of Online Video 00:03:26
2017-06-30	restate	Hank says it is easy to forget that the present is one snapshot of a huge history of life on Earth, and that looking at the past is instructive and fascinating.	Eyes Made of Crystal? - Trilobites are Bizarre 00:00:05