Blog #1

In this first chapter Gilderhus identifies reasons people study history as: a way for people to learn about the past so as not to have to repeat thing, make sense of confusing events; and learn and better understand the nature of humans. He elaborate on the various views different historians have regarding the areas of study and why humans did what they did so long ago. History is something that can always be continued and worked on to gain a more accurate understanding of the past. The past is something that most people would know very little about if that “father of history” from Greece had not decided there needs to be concrete evidence. Some of this first chapter sounded to me like some historians view the search for information like a detective would on a mystery, we must understand the origins of man to understand the actions man takes. I enjoy discovering history because I like learning seemingly useless pieces of information about a time so long ago, yet it holds value and is vital to the development of the story of human progress. I find history to be interesting because we can identify and relate much of the past with what has happened or will happen in the present and the future. History holds so many lessons mankind has already learned from and for myself I can delve into the past and the stories and accounts it holds to learn those same necessary lessons.