AFI CHANGEMAKERS AT THE UN HOLOCAUST REMEMBERANCE

History, An Essential Element To Human Existence

By Albert Dzokoto, Ghana Series of note-worthy occurrences make up a person’s life. Some of these experiences are significant, others are forgotten, but some are so emotionally significant that they will live on in our hearts and minds for the rest of our lives.

They alter our lives, as well as leave an indelible mark on us that can be seen in our personalities. These events highlight the relevance of history. History is therefore referred to as the study of the happenings of the past usually in the affairs of human beings. These human affairs may include political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious, and military developments.

History is thus very essential to human existence and these are enumerated upon in the following paragraphs.

Again, history provides us with the opportunity to learn from the past. It helps us understand many reasons why people behave the way they do. Through the study of history, we get the opportunity to study the construction, operation and evolution of past communities, institutions, ideologies, governments, cultures, and technology. History helps us learn from past mistakes and make better decisions the next time we are in those situations. These may include decisions in political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious, and military affairs. It also helps us predict actions of a society when it begins to behave in a particular manner. For instance, military officers are able to train new recruits to be better soldiers because of their past experiences.

Also, history helps us understand other people’s beliefs and changes. People all over the world have different cultural beliefs. Through history we are able to understand these different cultural beliefs. How and when people exhibit certain behaviors can be understood. We are also able to understand how people in different societies understand, analyze and solve problems, these may be political, social, economic, scientific, technological, medical, cultural, intellectual, religious and military problems. When people exhibit differences in their behavior from how they behaved before, we then understand that they have changed. Through history we are able to know and understand the behaviors of different societies which helps us detect change when they do not behave the way they used to. So, we can say that history helps us understand other people’s beliefs and changes when they occur.

Furthermore, history gives us insight into present-day problems. History provides a crucial perspective for understanding and solving current and future problems because it equips us with the tools to analyze and explain problems in the past. This allows us to see patterns that would otherwise be invisible in the present.

A history of public health course, for example, would emphasize how