The Big Lessons from History
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The Big Lessons from History
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Re: The Big Lessons from History
#2>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future.
I think this is throwing away something incredibly important. The way things are today is because of events in the past. Things have provenance. It is important to understand why historians have put so much weight on things like the french revolution and the trappings of the Roman Empire. The specifics of the french revolution are what matter when we consider what happens next. People were thinking about the "ideas of 1789" (and other momentous years during that revolution) when they attempted revolutions again in 1830 and 1848.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#3>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I think this is throwing away something incredibly important. The way things are today is because of events in the past. Things have provena…
>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future.
I would say that suprisingly lots of history is relevant today because all history is revisonist history. Historians look at past people and situations through today's lenses and bringing up what resonates with todays problems and dilemas. Also the human nature isn't changeable so political and social and personal dilemas of ancient Athens, Rome or China can resonate with us. It only requires a good author to show us past events in new, interesting light.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#4>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I think this is throwing away something incredibly important. The way things are today is because of events in the past. Things have provena…
>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I would say that suprisingly lots of history is relevant today because all history is revisonist history. Historians look at past people and…
> all history is revisionist history
That would be the revisionist view.
But history is also one of the sciences, and with a methodology that predates postmodernism.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#5Let me copy a previous comment of mine [0].
One quasi-actionable lesson of history the governments can try to remember is: do not sacrifice your strategic goals for a short-term gain, or "avoid hotfixes in production".
Example 1: Septimius Severus raised the legionary's yearly pay from 300 to 400 denarii while decreasing the amount of silver in a denarius by a half. The upset Roman economy would never fully recover.
Example 2: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Ukraine on 9 February 1918. Ukraine obliged to deliver grain to Austria-Hungary to relieve the food shortage. In exchange, Ukraine was given lands that Polish people considered their own. When the news went public, the Poles, hitherto the most loyal nation to the Habsburgs, changed the orientation to anti-Austrian. In due time, their Regency Council declared independence. (And Ukraine never delivered the grain; Austria-Hungary had to be sent 500 truckloads of grain and flour from Germany.)
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#6>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I think this is throwing away something incredibly important. The way things are today is because of events in the past. Things have provena…
That said most people, i.e. the non revolutionaries (which is the HN crowd), survive and will survive just fine not knowing anything about revolution or revolutionaries.
My favourite example of such a survivor is Joseph Marie Jacquard inventor of the Jacquard Loom (that which inspired Charles Babbage). Jacquards town would be taken over by revolutionaries on one day, counter revolutionaries on another, local royalty on a third and Napoleans armies on a forth, to the point were the townsfolk had no clue on any given day, who they were fighting with or against.
Jacquard worked to a ripe old age, through all that chaos, seeding the creation of the computer and retiring to a nice beautiful cottage on a beach.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#7few people before January assumed an infectious disease would ever impact their lives. It was hard to even comprehend.
That seems like an odd thing to say even just for the US, after the SARS and MERS scares, hantavirus, lime disease, not to mention HIV/AIDS.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#8>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I think this is throwing away something incredibly important. The way things are today is because of events in the past. Things have provena…
>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I would say that suprisingly lots of history is relevant today because all history is revisonist history. Historians look at past people and…
The problem with history is the lessons are long, complicated and easily tainted by the historian's bias.
And, interestingly, in politics people tend to look into history for grievances rather than looking for what works. One of the interesting trends that characterises China's current successes is decades of asking "what are other people doing that is working?". That seems to make them a little unusual.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I would say that suprisingly lots of history is relevant today because all history is revisonist history. Historians look at past people and…
> all history is revisionist history That would be the revisionist view. But history is also one of the sciences, and with a methodology that predates postmodernism.
The history as field starts with Roman historians who literally felt free to make things up or guess them where it suited them.
If anything, history as field is getting more accurate and more complete. Especially with digitalization and when writing about eras that left tons of written material after them.
Re: The Big Lessons from History
#10>History is full of specific lessons that aren’t relevant to most people, and not fully applicable to future events because things rarely repeat exactly as they did in the past. An imperfect rule of thumb is that the more granular the lesson, the less useful it is to the future. I think this is throwing away something incredibly important. The way things are today is because of events in the past. Things have provena…
That said most people, i.e. the non revolutionaries (which is the HN crowd), survive and will survive just fine not knowing anything about revolution or revolutionaries. My favourite example of such a survivor is Joseph Marie Jacquard inventor of the Jacquard Loom (that which inspired Charles Babbage). Jacquards town would be taken over by revolutionaries on one day, counter revolutionaries on another, local royalty…
That strategy works until the power-of-the-day decides that your race/class/religion is the Enemy. Good luck being Jewish in 1940s Germany, or a Kulak in 1930s Soviet Union, or a Christian during the Cultural Revolution, etc.