Learn From History

We either learn from history or we are doomed todevastation, or by senseless warring. It is a mistake to
repeat it. The wise not only pay attention to worldassume that their demise was due to a lack of
history, but the experiences (history) of others in ordersophistication. We do well to respect their intelligence
to avoid making mistakes. History is experience withand learn from reflecting on their mistakes or history
theory and practice. It cuts to the chase. Looking backwill be a prologue for our future. Just as our own
on our own individual history gives us better savvy toexperience shapes who we are, the present
face what lies ahead. Experience brings us to know incircumstances of society are the legacy of the past. If
a very personal and definitive way what works andwe want to know the future we must therefore look
what does not. No one would say that if they couldto the past. There is nowhere else to look, that is our
take their history with them and live life over that theycrystal ball.
would not be able to do a better job of it.Here's an interesting piece of history demonstrating
We can’t do that but we could listen to thosehow closely we are tied with the past. Notice that the
who have lived more life than us and take their lifespace shuttle has two solid fuel booster rockets on
wisdom to guide our own. But no. We think we knowthe sides of the gigantic main fuel tank. Why are these
better, don’t listen, prefer to talk and insist onthe size they are? Surely this was determined by
making our own mistakes and suffering our ownsophisticated scienceĀ… or was it? As it turns out,
bruises. Society as a whole does the same thing. TheThiokol, a company in Utah that must ship them to the
history of the world is experience in storybook form.launch pads, makes the tanks. The mode of shipment
We can read it for entertainment or we can learnis by rail. The tunnels the trains must pass through and
from it and save ourselves from repeating the samethe width of the rail cars dictate the thickness of the
mistakes over and over.tanks. Well, what decides the width of the rail cars? It's
One of the reasons we do not pay attention to historybased on the track. The track is exactly a standard
as we should is because we think we are differentgauge of 4 feet, 8 inches. What a weird dimension.
from people of the past. Our heady time ofWhy is this the distance between rails? Because the
technological pyrotechnics creates a smugness thatfirst American and Canadian rails were built by
leads us to presume that pre-modern era humansexpatriated Englishmen and that's how they did it in
were unsophisticated or stone-age brutes. But a closerEngland. But why did they do that in England? Because
look tells us that is not so. As far back as writtenthe first railroads were built by those who built
records go, clear back to the Phaistos disk printed bytramways and that's how they did it. So why did the
a printing press using a syllabary of 45 signs (one signtramway builders do it that way? Because they had
for each syllable) 3,700 years ago, there is clearthe jigs, templates and tools used to build wagons and
evidence that humans were as innately intelligent, orthat was the wheel spacing for the wagons. Why this
more so, than we are today. As archeologists digwheel spacing for wagons? Because the wheels
deeper and deeper into the strata of our history thereneeded to fit into the ruts on roads so they wouldn't
is every reason to be humbled. The abandonment ofbreak. So where did the ruts come from? Imperial
the hunter-gatherer nomadic life for iron-basedRome etched those ruts with their war chariots, the
statehood may not be intellectual progress at all.wheels of which carved roads all over Europe,
Look at the great structures of incredible size,including England. Why 4 feet, 8 inches? Because
engineering and intricate detail that were created bythat's the width of the rear-ends of two Roman war
humans without one power tool or machine. The Tajhorses.
Mahal, ancient Rome and the Pyramids are examplesSo, the dimensions of the space shuttle, a crowning
of such marvelous tectonics. Around the world thereachievement of human technological advance, are
are also unbelievably immense megaliths. Some stonesbased on a horse’s derriere. History indeed
are so gigantic that it would have taken 30,000 men tocasts long shadows and our link to it is inextricable. But
move one a single inch. Yet they were movedthat does not mean we are doomed to repeat it. We
hundreds of miles over land and then elevated dozenscan break our obstinate habits and pay special
of feet in the air. Some structures in Mesoamerica andattention to the experience of our own lives and that
the South Pacific are made of thousands of stonesof others. That will give us wisdom beyond our years.
weighing tons each, and were somehow hewn to fitWe can also pay attention to the bigger picture of
so tightly that a playing card cannot even be insertedsociety’s experience and create a new history
anywhere in the joints. We, with all of our smarts andfor our children, one of reason, fiduciary responsibility,
technology, cannot replicate these feats to this day.compassion and hope. Nothing is stopping us from
People in the past were intelligent with respect to theirchanging the course of our lives and the downward
technology, but they were not so clever that theyspiral of civilization other than doing what is right, doing
could not destroy themselves through environmentalit now and going about it as if thinking matters.