A couple of days ago, I was at a library. I saw artifacts there that were old, very old. I was there for a class, looking and holding books that were centuries older than anyone I know. The pure bliss of holding on to a book, something that is ancient, divine with respect to what it offers, was beyond imagination. Now, most of you all would say that we see things like these every day: museums, churches, old relics, paintings, and buildings. A book, however, is very special.
History defines itself as a prerequisite to human existence. For the longest time, we have wondered about prehistoric things, trying to unveil items such as cave drawings, landmark sites, tools, and utilities used by our ancient ancestors. We try to decipher the code, which seems to be beyond our time. Yet, every day, I hear hundreds of people say history is a waste of time. Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when it comes to history, there is no agreement whatsoever, that is unless it could answer all of our questions. History is mere speculation and assumptions from our part to access what happened at a certain time or age.
But, why an article on history? Why even bother to change people's opinion on history? People, when it comes to history, have a crude and discordant opinion. So, why bother - because these people don't understand the value of history.
History, as I previously mentioned, is the prerequisite to human existence. We have strived to find answers about where we come from, yet, we could think of it another way. What if the people before us were thinking the same thing? Cavemen that drew on caves were trying to make sense of their existence. What if all philosophies about aliens are so the man does not feel so lonely? I mean, we don't really know what lies beyond our galaxy. But, we seem to be creating stories, calling them myths, legends, comics, about species that are similar, yet possess extraordinary abilities.
We, as a generation, have come to despise history. For what it's worth, we are here because of it. Experience settles us in the belief that we are better than our predecessors. We have accomplished great things. But, a true lover of this time, this world would understand that things don't lead up to our current age. We call America the greatest nation on the face of the earth. But, our roots came from the slums and rejects of the British Colonials. We admire our history only to the point to where it aids us in our biased belief. We fail to look beyond our thoughtful discrepancies.
We need to learn to look beyond the box. We want to look for extraterrestrial life but don't want to improve our standards. We look to impose our rules on others while living irrationally.
We need to be the stepping stone for the future, not the winding reel of the past. We need to look beyond opportunity and look around reason. We need to stop fearing ourselves and make ourselves an asset.
