Okay, so why do we have to study history? Like it's life-ruining, it's not practical, it's not even one of the universally praised STEM disciplines, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Like those are useful to the world, but… history? If we're not careful, we start thinking about history in terms of what my grandpappy used to say.
Son, that is about as useful as a bag of farts. Like for many of you, the school year is starting next week and summer is drawing to a close. When that school year begins, you're going to be taking AP World History, AP US History, AP European History, and maybe your guts pucker up tighter than a snare drum at the thought of taking those courses.
So why in the world are you doing this? I mean, I know it's required, and if you're taking AP, it's because you want an impressive job. transcript and credit in college, but let's be honest, none of those reasons get you up in the morning or make your heart beat fast.
So let me give you a couple of reasons why we study history, and I think if you let them, these will make your heart beat fast and maybe, just maybe, help you enjoy the hard work that lies ahead. So let me give you three reasons why I think the study of history is worth your time. Reason number one, studying history teaches you how to think, and oh my lanta, do we need people who know how to think in this world. But that's not our typical experience of the history class.
Like, ask anybody on the street, their opinion of learning history would be pretty bleak because their class went a little something like this. In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... anyone? Anyone?
The Great Depression... Passed the... anyone?
Anyone? The tariff bill, the Holly Smoot Tariff Act, which anyone raised or lowered? Raised tariffs. No, that's hilarious. Ferris and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but it is tragic in real life because so many people think that's what history is.
It's just a recounting of barren facts of the past, to which I say, who cares? No, that is not what history is for. History is for learning how to think, to make claims based on the best evidence available, to construct persuasive arguments and analysis, and to appreciate the foreignness of the past and get comfortable with the facts. with the utter complexity of our world.
Like it is a classic power move for someone, whether they're a dictator or a ridiculous cable news pundit, to reduce the complexity of the world down to us versus them or good vs. evil, but anyone who has learned to think historically knows that real life is not that simple. There are a thousand competing explanations for any given event, and all of them have some merit, although some have more merit than others. In history class, you're going to learn what only history can teach you, namely to think about the infinite complexity of the past in terms of change over time and cause and effect. And you're going to learn how to compare disparate events and people and try to come to terms with with how they're similar and how they're different.
And if in the middle of that it feels like you're drowning in complexity, then that means you're doing it right. Let me just say it again. We need.
We. We need people in this world who are capable of thinking in nuance and complexity, and it's the study of history that will deliver such a posture of mind to you. Reason number two. The study of history helps you navigate the present moment.
This morning you woke up in a world in which there are fiery political debates raging and environmental concerns plaguing us and social tension dominating the national and international discussions. And let me be plain, science will not help you navigate those tumultuous waters, nor will engineering or mathematics. And to be clear, those are all magnificent disciplines for which I am grateful.
grateful, but they will not help you understand why politicians in many states are proposing resolutions to ban certain historical topics from being discussed in the K-12 classroom. Those disciplines will not help you understand why a crowd of people broke into the Capitol building on January 6, 2021 looking to kill Mike Pence and create havoc and reap destruction. Science will not even help you understand why just a couple of months ago Israelis and Palestinians began trying to blow each other up.
But history, oh- Baby, history will help you understand those events and come to conclusions about what ought to be done. And the thing is, we know this by instinct. Like when you first meet a person, supposing you have some time with them, the first thing you want to know is, what's your story?
Where did you grow up? And how has that shaped you? And why do we ask those kinds of questions? It's because we know that everything that happened in a person's past has some bearing on who they are in the present. And if you don't understand their past, you certainly want to understand their present.
In fact, the past is never really past because we as people and we as societies carry it with us and it haunts us every moment of the present. So why do we study history? In order to understand and navigate the present moment.
Okay, reason number three. The study of history bestows virtue on its students. Mmm, that's a tasty one. If you submit yourself to the study of history, it will bestow at least two classical virtues upon you—humility and love. And you're like, what?
How does studying history make me more humble and loving? Well, let me explain it up real nice for you. First, the study of history bestows humility.
And it was that mountain of a historian, Sam Weinberg, who taught me this. He says, the narcissist sees the world, both the past and the present, in his own image. Mature historical understanding teaches us to do the opposite, to go beyond our own image, to go beyond our brief life. Objects in the secular curriculum, history is the best at teaching those virtues once reserved for theology, humility in the face of our limited ability to know, and awe in the face of the expanse of history.
Or to say it another way, the discipline of history teaches me that I am not the biggest deal that there is. And that, to put it more succinctly, is humility. And if you give yourself to this discipline, you will necessarily become more humble, like if you let it do its work in you. And as I said before, we live in a world filled with ugly and misshapen pride, and what we need is more humility. And by entering this class, you stand on the threshold of such a virtue.
Okay, the second virtue the study of history bestows is love. Now, all of us, I'm assuming, want to love this world and the people who belong to us better than we do. But to become one who loves well is no easy thing. But the study of history turns us into those kinds of people.
Let me explain. For this idea, I'm indebted to historian John Feah, who says, People in the past cannot defend themselves. They are at the mercy of the historian.
This of course gives the practitioner of history a great deal of power. But historians must relinquish power and avoid the temptation to use the powerless to serve selfish ends. Such an act of compassion and love for those in the past requires imagination and an openness to listen before judging."Isn't that what we want for ourselves? Don't we want others not to rush to judgment about us, but to love us enough and hear us on our own terms? And aren't those the kinds of people that we want to be to others as well? I've never met a judgmental person who was really happy. But I have met plenty of people who have climbed into the foothills of love and compassion for their fellow human beings and a abound with joy and have begun to understand what it means to flourish as a human. So the study of history teaches us to love. Now I know I've been soaring in the clouds here, but I've been trying to awaken your imaginations and breathe life back into the dry bones of the study of history. And when you step foot in that classroom, you're going to be taking quizzes and tests and interpreting documents and writing essays, and at every step you're going to be tempted to believe that the the tasks you are completing have no larger significance in your life. But I will be here constantly to remind you of this. The study of history matters, and the world needs those who have been shaped by this discipline. Alright, well thanks for watching. If you're about to start AP World or AP US or AP Government, then baby, you should probably subscribe. I've got videos coming out multiple times a week to help you get an A in your class and a 5 on your exam in May. Links to all the books I mentioned are in the description. In case you're interested, I'm Laird.