- Claim: Knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today. Reason: We are not able to make connections between current events and past events until we have some distance from both.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim and the reason on which that claim is based.________________________________________
One may say that the complexity of today makes it more difficult for us to rely on the knowledge on the past. In some sense, it is true that the ever more complicated and unpredictable changes in our time can diminish the direct relevance or utility of our knowledge on the history. However, I firmly believe that understanding the past still serves as either a starting point of every valuable thought process or an inspirational impetus to wisely address the seemingly unique problems of today.
Of course, it is hard to deny that there have been a number of dramatic changes between the past and the present, thus that the wisdom of our ancestors scarcely provides direct answers for the issues of today. In sciences, classical formula cannot match the subtlety and complexity of research questions of today. For example, physicists in the field of quantum mechanics usually deplore the limitations of the classical principles in physics, chemistry, and even basic molecular mechanisms. Emergence of global interconnections in the financial market lowers the value of classical theories in Economics. Even in the area of real politics, the diffusion of new personal media such as the Internet and cell-phones has made our everyday politics what Machiabelli and other classical political scientists can never explain away, thus give any valuable tip about. --------
Is it proper to rely on past experiences and knowledge on the history in order to solve the problems today? Some may say that the uniqueness of our contemporary society makes it difficult to find direct connections between the past and the present. However, in more fundamental terms, we can easily find that the past foreshadows the present.
Of course, it is hard to deny that the world today is composed of so much unique and more complex problems than those of the past. In examining economic problems today, it is almost impossible to find efficacious solutions for the matters of the modern global market from observations of the rural communities of the fifteenth century Europe or the early industrial era of the eighteenth century. What specific insights could we earn from the governing of many Roman Emperors when we want to find out solutions for modern financial crimes such as stock-price manipulation and fraudulent fabrication of exchange rates? If we consider the ever-changing conditions of socio-economic or socio-cultural aspect of humanity, the notion that understanding the past has little to do with the present seems to gain support.
However, with regard to more basic and profound dimensions of human life, it is also undeniable that knowledge on the past is not only relevant but also essential to gaining solutions for problems today. Despite the superficial differences between the past and the present, the two share something at more fundamental levels. Thus, when designing its new form of democratic government, the early United States widely referred to the political systems of the ancient Greece and the Rome, in its republic as well as imperial versions. Though the old forms of governments can be never classified as ones considering new forms of industrialized economy and culture of individualism, the keys for an efficient government could be captured in both their successes and failures.
Also, I firmly believe that our decisions can benefit from careful examinations on the past in that we can save lots of efforts and resources from the lessons of yesterday. Without knowledge on the past, every new attempt will be an exploration with no maps or guides. Once again, when trying to know the contemporary global financial crises, every wise economist will agree that, other than the details requiring an independent examination, observations from the past will serve as cost-saving guidance. Ultimately, the experts are more likely and effectively than the beginners to make extensive, but efficient, solutions.