Learn from the Past, Improve the Future???

They say, "Those who can not learn from history are doomed to repeat it". But is this the real reason why we study our history, our past? Does paying close attention to the past, and our inevitable mistakes, really help us avoid similar situations materializing in the future? Does this famous statement or theory per say apply true for me and my history, my past, on a micro level?

Regardless of history truly learned, analyzed, and understood, in some respects we seem destine to repeat it. I unfortunately surely have and I bet you have too. You may have been told that we study history in school so that we won't repeat the mistakes of the past just as I was. This is the wishful "school of thinking" on historical interpretation and analysis but is not entirely true nor universally applicable, It's too clean (although in theory it would be ideal)!!! Unfortunately human life, just as society, is not found within this utopian bubble. If we truly learn from the past then over the centuries we ought to have accumulated such an abundance of knowledge that things like war, poverty, injustice and immorality (hmmmm interesting *cough* *cough* Maureen) ought not to exist. Of course, we've still got a long way to go in this respect and many others.....

You may have also heard that everything repeats itself in time, that life and history among other things follows a cyclical pattern, so if we study the past, we can be sure to see a glimpse, know something of the future. This view is a fallacy as well. To insist that the study of the past will reveal something of the future is a nice idea, but what I really want to know about is the present not necessarily the future. History cannot "tell" the future, it can only postulate about it. History can, on the other hand, reveal all that is the present indirectly through the study of the past, where you have been, and in turn where you would like to go. But why even bother? What's the point of learning from your history?

Well, for me, it's a Socratic issue. Socrates was a man of knowledge but not that much knowledge quantitatively. As a freshman in high school you probably knew more than Socrates, at least in regards to "book smarts". Regardless, Socrates was a wise man, one of histories greatest philosophers. He had great wisdom because he "knew" only one thing was certain: that he essentially knew nothing in the grand scheme of things. He was humble and modest as we all should be. For Socrates, perhaps the highest virtue can be summed up in one phrase, "Know thyself", even if you know no other. In other words, of all the things in the phenomenal world, there is not one more important as a true and empirical understanding of yourself. To know yourself means to be aware of what it is that makes you who you are, and who your are has very much to do with where you've been!!!! So, in this respect, the one thing which reveals this knowledge is your history, your past. This is why you study your history, your past, to "know thyself"!!!

So why am I studying my history, my past? Well, for me it's a selfish quest for a truer understanding. Not only do I wish to avoid repeating the negative aspects of my history, my past, if at all possible, I wish to improve myself. And by improving myself by analyzing my past, I in turn, subsequently improve others. This is the Socratic method and one I attempt to practice on a daily basis these days.

Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life, with the "NOW". Fear not for the future, weep not for the past, but live in the present. ¶ 6:15 AM