History: Is it Important?

Recently, I've been asked this question by a friend of mine. Although it never really surprised me that an Architecture major would've asked me this, it still took me in suspense being that so many aspects of history go into different things that we as people see in everyday life. For example, the very computer/phone that you may be reading this blog post from has a history in itself whether it be from a factory in China, a previous owner of the device, and even the very nature of the history in the phone or computer itself. All these little details come into place with history and the science of history itself that surrounds the inner basis of social sciences. Such sciences that make the basis of history are Archaeology, Archaeography, Archival Science, Chorographical Science, Chronological Science, Cliometrics, and the many other studies of history that can be used to spread out this point of why history is important.

Think for a moment about every historical site you've ever come across whether it be a museum, landmark, park, university, or even a building that you might be in right now. Is it fully and completely recognized by history? If not, then the aspect of why that building is even there begs the question of why it was even built. Why per say was your house built? Why were National Parks created? Why were museums built? The answer is simple: They were built for history to be made, explored, and taught because it is important. Without history, we wouldn't know why things are there, what they were made for, and ultimately why people wanted things to be there in the first place. Take ancient civilizations for example. Most tribes and villages moved near water areas such as rivers, lakes, creeks, or even streams because it was important for them to receive water, food, and other resources. This variation of survival tactic still continues to this day due to trade, recreation, activities, and of course, history due to the people that settled in areas before the first pilgrims settled in Massachusetts.

Ultimately with the extremities of history, things should be examined thoroughly by each person before passing them through others. The very thought of throwing away something of extreme historical value could change the course of how we perceive the historical topic at hand. For instance, if you were to possess the only 7 cent coin in the world and throw it in a well, once the coin was retrieved, it would probably be thrown away due to the person finding it thinking it was fake. If it was donated to a museum, or even sold to a pawn shop to be donated to a museum later, the research and overall story of how that 7 cent coin came into place could be told and a new piece of history could be written. In the end, history is forever changing with new archeology works being discovered everyday, and with new discoveries bring new stories and enlightenments to be told to perceive how we live in the society we do today.