I will initiate this post by stating, “I am still in a deep meditation on the subject of this post.” My goal in this writing is to provoke some of the readers to contribute to this with different opinions and views. I consider myself an infant of knowledge in this subject and only wish to bring my point of view to the table.
What are some of the things human beings have an obsession over? On a primitive level we obsess over: matching our image to that of the surrounding populous, discovering the past events that elapsed into the future, injecting our minds with physical effects that have a representation of enjoyment, and other such similar events. Obviously, the essence of this post is the discovering of past events that elapsed into the future observance.
The average human has a pertinacious quest to discover all possible information, within reason of ability, about themselves and those with whom they closely interact. Then you see the abnormal personality, the desire to discover all there is to know about the history of a region, date, and culture, and from time to time an individual has the goal to understand the whole of history. Of course, all of history is not on record, nor do I think it ever will be. Still, human kind pushes on to discover knowledge of previous events. Forget not the other forms of history we commonly seek, most notably the history of science. As an example the CERN Large Hadron Collider an estimated 6.4 billion project. Whatever it is we are studying that involves our history and culture; we never truly give up in our search, thus making it one of the most influential and exasperating quest for knowledge.
What is motive behind the desire to search for endless knowledge about something that is only slightly relevant to our future? I personally think it is a combination of multiple parallels that all combine to create this desire, or trait.
The first of these parallels is the fruitless effort to find your unique truth. The truth about what you believe, what you desire, what you disapprove, and what your purpose is. One, such as myself, can try to find all these answers by contemplating in deep meditative thought. Doing so I feel I do understand the current answer to all the above questions, however the majority of the public fails to spend a serious amount of time in these trances. Instead, they find their answers by looking into the answers of those closely related - not necessarily by genes or friendship, but by any motive deemed morally correct. It is human nature to base your view on those in your surroundings. Your surroundings do not limit you to those of the present, but you also form opinions from people of the past and even the future. In terms of future it is more figurative idols or even ideas. If your present self was influenced by any one of these figures or events then you already have been shaped in some way by their molds. It is when we try to discover how and why they influenced our demeanor that we become more influenced by their existence.
The second most common motive to discover and learn from our past is the desire to improve the future. This one is the most quoted of the possible answers to this question. Open any elementary history book, in the first few paragraphs you are certain to find something saying, “Why do we study history?” One of the answers, maybe the only answer, is something saying, “We study history to discover what our past represented in both positive and negative ways. Thus, we are able to learn from our successes and our failures.”
I think this is remotely true. If we remove all the profound differences between two different periods of struggle we find there are many similarities. However, you cannot base a decision, such as the Iraqi Surge, on what the past effect was in a remotely similar situation, maybe The Battle of Gettysburg for instance. You may be able to relate them, but the events of failures and success are to different to look at for either motivation or depression. Still people will look to the past to find answers to questions and events in the present or future.
The last reason I want to discuss is similar to the two previous examples. This is the knowledge of comfort. Think of the first time you attempted a notable event. Maybe it was your first track meet in high school or your first public speech. Whatever it was you no doubt felt nervous and stressed, which is normal, but think of the second, third, and fourth time you did this same event. It would have become more relaxing, the knowledge of knowing you have completed this task before is a simple yet effective relief. This sameassuredness comes from the knowledge of your history. If you know in the past people have sailed across the sea successfully you can be more assured that your journey will be unharmed. It could also apply in a negative way, such as, being aware that no one has ever broken a certain record. The feeling of being aware of your past results makes the coming of future events more negative or positively assuring.
We will continuously seek our the knowledge of our past and guidance for our future. This search is one that will never be completed, but with every acquisition of knowledge we accomplish something that isunmeasurably dominant in our influences. We can learn from our mistakes, learn something about ourselves, and we can find confidence in our surroundings. All of which are powerful factors when we solve the equation of what makes our mind unique.
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