Does History Matter?

If you asked someone what their least favourite subject at school was, I'm sure many would mention maths or PE or maybe history. I never loved maths and I liked PE even less, but I always loved history. Most of my friends found it a bit dull. To them, history felt stationary and irrelevant to their lives. Sometimes it was almost boring. However, I never understood that; to me it was always fascinating. And so, when people asked me what I wanted to study at university I would always reply 'history' as if it was obvious because of course I am going to study history, what else would I do? Then we were all locked inside for months, and all of a sudden applying to university became part of my immediate future rather than some far off event. Thus, I started to question my choice of history. I started to worry that history was irrelevant and that it wasn't actually the subject for me. So, like any good baby historian, I did some research in an attempt to discover if history matters and if I should bother studying it.

I found lots of answers to lots of different questions. I fell down a TED Talk rabbit hole which, while I would highly recommend it, didn't quite answer my question. Although, one talk pointed out that humans are unique in our ability to pass information through generations. It allows us to develop complex systems and societies as we don't have to start all over again when a generation dies out. I had never considered this before and it did bring me a bit closer to an answer. Another talk argued that people will always attempt to study history in the same way that people will always attempt to predict the future. The study of history can shine a light on patterns of events that may inform the future but, more importantly, without an understanding of the past we would be completely in the dark. We would only know the events of our lifetime and our present which, in comparison to what we do know, is not much. Perhaps, then, the need to understand our past is inherently human.

By looking at lots of different perspectives on History, I began to see it in less of an academic way. Really history is just lots of stories about people. I love stories and really history is the biggest and most epic story of all. It connects all human people together in a huge web of stories, myths and truths. History matters because people matter, and history makes humans human.

"The answer is that History is inescapable. It studies the past and the legacies of the past in the present. Far from being a 'dead' subject, it connects things through time" - Penelope J. Corfield

But the question still remained of how I fit into History. History, as an academic subject is so much broader and deeper than I realised. I guess Horrible Histories doesn't quite reflect the academic study of history. It is, to me at least, pretty intimidating. It seems like a world dominated by old white men and while there's nothing wrong with old white men, it makes History feel inaccessible to me. But a bit a googling showed me that History is not as male dominated as it seems. What I realised is that I have a voice and I want to tell some really cool stories about really cool people who lived in the past. That passion is enough to 'fit into' History. So, when my dad asked me if a history degree was really a good idea (we're both planners and worriers- not a good combo), I was reminded of all the stories I haven't been told but that exist somewhere. I could tell him "Of course there is!" And I guess I'll find out if I was right but if I am wrong, which I hope I'm not, then I can make my own space because history matters enough to be told.

If I am being honest, I'm still not entirely sure why history matters or at least I couldn't give a nice, neat answer. My research told me that history is an intrinsic element of humanity. Without it we are totally blind in the tunnel that is the present, unable to see what is in front of us and unable to guess what we might find there based on what was behind us. As to where I fit in, I am still not sure, but I am sure that I will find out. What I do know is that in the 6000 years of human civilisation and the 200,000 years of human existence there has to be countless stories that have not been told yet but are dying to be heard. Maybe I can tell a few of those stories, maybe I can't but I know I want to try because without stories and lessons from the past, where would we be?