Why history matters... To illustrate why history is important, consider the following insightful quote from esteemed novelist Michael Crichton. The quote comes from the novel Timeline, published in 1999. Through the characters and setting in his novel, Crichton brings history to life very effectively. In particular, the character Robert Doniger speaks volumes on historys formative importance in this speech. Timeline, Crichton, Michael, page 318. NY, Knoph 1999 Robert Doniger speaking: We are all ruled by the past, although no one understands it. No one recognizes the power of past. But if you think about it, the past has always been more important than the present. The present is like a coral island that sticks above the water, but is built upon millions of dead corals under the surface, that no one sees. In the same way, our everyday world is built upon millions and millions of events and decisions that occurred in the past. And what we add in the present is trivial. A teenager has breakfast, then goes the store to buy the latest CD of a new band. The kid thinks he lives in a modern moment. But who has defined what a “band” is? Who defined a “store”. Who defined a “teenager”? Or “breakfast” To say nothing of all the rest, the kid’s entire social setting: family, school, clothing, transportation and government. None of this has been decided in the present. Most of it was decided hundreds of years ago. Five hundred years, a thousand years. This kid is sitting atop a mountain that is the past. And he never notices it. He is ruled by what he never sees, never thinks about, doesn’t know. It is a form of coercion that is accepted without question. This same kid is skeptical of other forms of control: parental restrictions, commercial messages, government laws. But the invisible rule of the past, which decides nearly everything in his life, goes unquestioned. columbiagames/
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 09:05:43 +0000
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