Preview

“the historians task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas on knowledge?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1005 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
“the historians task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas on knowledge?
Logan Falco
11/22/13
TOK Prescribed Title

“the historians task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas on knowledge? Life is too short for any individual to make every mistake. We use history to learn where we come from and what the caused events of the past to happen. There must be a strong in depth understanding of what causes events such as the renaissance all the way to World War Two. Creating a strong understanding of the past helps form a guide to make the future better. Human sciences seek the functionality of the human mind in order to reason why people act the way they do. These scientists find ways the mind works in order to avoid or coup with undesirable traits of our psyche. These differing tactics lead us to the question “To what extent are these areas of knowledge seeking the same objective?” Historians attempt to identify what incidents and people change the course of human history. Inquiring what caused those incidents? What made that person act in the way they did? Their studies observe both pleasant and cruel things in the past. Once able to recognize what produced a good and bad event or person in the past can be applied to the present to help shift modern events. For example since the rise of the Nazi party has been studied so rigorously we are able to recognize the pre-cursing signs in order to halt the upcoming result. In contrast we can look to high economic times or flourishing of the arts to see what had led to them. Going beyond the simple study of what has happened, the knowledge we archive has become a vital reference point for civilization today. In spite of it being a study of the past it is in fact enhancing the future for the society around them. Civilization would never come to existents if we never learn from our mistakes. Just as people will never live long enough to make every mistake themselves they must learn from the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    One problem history faces as a science is method of inference. Experiments in historical science are far more difficult if at all to conduct (compared to something like physics), and historians must use tools like observation, comparison, and “natural experiments”. Historical science is also centered on terms like “ultimate causes”, “function”, and “purpose”, words that would mean nothing to physicists and chemists. Prediction is yet another thing that separates historical science from other sciences. Prediction in chemistry involves predicting a future behavior, while historical predictions are a game of haves and have-nots, or why did one species go extinct now and not later.…

    • 2013 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Historians are the ones who are willing to examine and study the roots of out life in order to offer us the opportunity to improve our chances of the event that might happen again as it usually does when there are pieces of the puzzle missing! We learn from what had happened to our ancestors, and this way we figure out something else that should improve our life, and diminishing the chances of something ugly to happen again! I guess, all of us know that there has been an abundance of distinct wars in many different countries, and as the years are going by we are reducing the numbers of wars around the world and that is because we learned from the other's mistakes!…

    • 612 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History is the procedure used to analyze what was significant about chosen events, individuals, and advancements from the past. Historians utilize distinctive arrangements of criteria to help them make judgements about essentialness. All theories have to base on data. To make the country become better, people needs the data from the past to guide their country to the bright future. The old said: “the one who controls the past controls the future.”…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to the historians, by looking at things that have already happened, Americans can learn a lot about which actions made things better versus which actions made things worse, and can then plan their own actions accordingly.…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Studying history in the making seems a strenuous task. Many will say that we lack detachment and objectivity to judge the sequence of events. But if we base our study upon previous historical facts, and thus draw a strict comparison between past and present, bringing to light what the actual history is or is not, then the objectivity seems somewhat restored.…

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Malka Survival

    • 2488 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Analyze, synthesize and interpret history. The nature that current history is contemperoary history …. For ex. The first proffesionalists believed history was a science…. White men believed history was made by other elite men. As times changed, historians began to see that history was a struggle and view of bottom up history…. Before top down.…

    • 2488 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The obsolescence of old information caused society to approach the past with a new look in order to have an accurate, Analytical Interpretation of what had occurred, which with, history had become a science. The method the Analytical Historians used to reach the level of a…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jackson

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages

    History is the study of past events, specifically human affairs. We use the study of history to investigate and seek to explain how people have changed over time. Historians use all forms of evidence to examine, interpret, revisit, and reinterpret the past. These include not just written documents, but also oral communication. Also, objects and art such as sculptures, buildings, artifacts, photographs, and paintings are used to interpret the past. Historians do not always agree on interpretations of the past. Many say that the survivors have written our history. But nevertheless, debated differences help expand and enhance our understanding of human development.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Four Eras of Writing

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Late- nineteenth-century historians, usually called “historicists” or “positivists” believed that history was like science and with practice it could be solved. According to Couvares, Croce believed that Positivists were faulty in their assumptions because history was perceived differently every time it was written down since no one thinks exactly alike. With so many different views, historians are usually adding more and more information to each other’s perceptions.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Truck Tires

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages

    When it comes to business the way to guarantee your future is to make the right investments. Such investment opportunities show up in different ways after you begin running your own company. For example, a start up business could launch as a very small venture, but a smart investment early on could help it to grow exponentially. For example, if your business involves delivering products or goods, it is important to ensure that they vehicle that you purchase to use for this purpose will be able to accommodate your needs effectively for what you need it to do. Using truck tires designed for the mud is a great investment to make. If you choose these kinds of tires, you can be sure that your automobile will do fine on any kind of terrain.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Herodotus Research Paper

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many students today propose the question, "why do we study history, what does it have to do with us?" This question is not a new idea; in fact, the Greeks didn't concern themselves with true scientific history until after 500 B.C. Up until this point the Greeks focused mainly on myths and legends that explained how to please their many gods. It wasn't until the time of Herodotus that any emphasis was placed on recording a true account of the past. In Herodotus' writings The Histories, he tells us his reasons for recording this history:…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe that history helps us with our future, if we actually see what we did wrong in the past. Learning about how medicine started and peoples views on it can help me as a public health professional when decided what new plans I want to develop and how I want to help communities. Learning about different medical organizations and what their views are on public health is also beneficial to my career. I learned about how insurance started and what people’s views were on it, I think this is important to know when trying to implement changes in our insurance…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The legendary nature and reality of historic data complement each other when students study the past. They can learn principles like change over time, sound argumentation and debate, the nature of decisions and actions taken by influential people, assessment of the untold stories, positive or negative outcomes of both good and bad intentions, critical analysis of incredible amounts of data followed by precise explanations of the given information, bringing primary sources into context, etc. While each of these principles can be used directly in the field of history, their application transcends to other career paths as well. The subject of history is meant to go beyond classroom application, not only to be used by teachers for jobs and students for class…

    • 1445 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Over time, scientific knowledge have changed. Facts have been discovered and theories have been corrected. Old knowledge has changed many ways over time to be more precise. These many changes impact much of society greatly. Due to the fact that new facts are proven, health knowledge and scientific education are changed, impacting society.…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    History is what shapes our daily lives. All the past events such as fights for justice and freedom make it possible to survive in today’s day and age. In the past many people were discriminated against because of the color of their skin while others were forced and bullied to move off of their own premises just because others had that authority. A lot of history that is learned about and recognized is because of the works and writings available for us to read. Through literature we learn a lot of untold stories.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays