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    Understanding History

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    Nats Barretto
    The document discusses several key ideas about the study and understanding of history: 1) It is impossible to fully study or know the past as it is gone, and history involves the examination of past societies, times, and places. 2) There is a tendency to confuse social memory with accurate history, and it can be difficult to move beyond the influences of the past. 3) Recognizing commonalities between people is important, rather than creating too many artificial distinctions, and we study historical figures not to find fault but to learn how to avoid past tragedies. 4) To move forward productively, we must act with freedom but also consider consequences, as the past suggests

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    Understanding History

    Uploaded by

    Nats Barretto
    19 views11 pages
    The document discusses several key ideas about the study and understanding of history: 1) It is impossible to fully study or know the past as it is gone, and history involves the examination of past societies, times, and places. 2) There is a tendency to confuse social memory with accurate history, and it can be difficult to move beyond the influences of the past. 3) Recognizing commonalities between people is important, rather than creating too many artificial distinctions, and we study historical figures not to find fault but to learn how to avoid past tragedies. 4) To move forward productively, we must act with freedom but also consider consequences, as the past suggests

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    The document discusses several key ideas about the study and understanding of history: 1) It is impossible to fully study or know the past as it is gone, and history involves the examination of past societies, times, and places. 2) There is a tendency to confuse social memory with accurate history, and it can be difficult to move beyond the influences of the past. 3) Recognizing commonalities between people is important, rather than creating too many artificial distinctions, and we study historical figures not to find fault but to learn how to avoid past tragedies. 4) To move forward productively, we must act with freedom but also consider consequences, as the past suggests

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    19 views11 pages

    Understanding History

    Uploaded by

    Nats Barretto
    The document discusses several key ideas about the study and understanding of history: 1) It is impossible to fully study or know the past as it is gone, and history involves the examination of past societies, times, and places. 2) There is a tendency to confuse social memory with accurate history, and it can be difficult to move beyond the influences of the past. 3) Recognizing commonalities between people is important, rather than creating too many artificial distinctions, and we study historical figures not to find fault but to learn how to avoid past tragedies. 4) To move forward productively, we must act with freedom but also consider consequences, as the past suggests

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 11

    Discipline and Definition

    Who writes history?

    Who reads history?


    How much can we really know?

    It is actually impossible to study the past because it is no longer there In effect, history is the study of some societies at some points at some times

    Tendency to confuse social memory with history Difficulty of moving past the past

    Symptoms against structures Demystification and Deconstruction The present can either bind us or free us

    Inseparability of the Past, Present and Future

    No inevitabilities, only tendencies


    Not static, but change is almost always slow

    Everything we have done, are doing, or will do inevitably affects others


    To claim neutrality is to take sides To simply forgive and forget allows problems to recur

    Great or Famous people are just as human as we are


    We study them not for them but to realize our own capacity for both tremendous good and tremendous evil We study them less to find fault in the past but what can be done to avoid similar tragedies today

    Recognizing the commonality and translatability of history Creation of too many artificial distinctions between people

    Every human life has infinite possibilities and is therefore infinitely valuable The gauge of ones humanity is our ability to transform that of others, not only our own

    To move forward, we must act as if we are free, but also mindful of the consequences The past only suggests what can be, not what must be

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