▶ Your Answer : “A nation that forgets its past has no
future”: the famous quote from Winston Churchill portrays the importance of
understanding the past. Future is formed by present, and present is formed by
the past. Thus, looking back in history for advice is the best option to choose
in order to solve problems in the present and future wisely.
First of all, it is likely that a similar
problem, if not the same, had emerged in the past. It is obvious that
encountering a novel problem is much harder than dealing with a problem that
you have experienced previously. This means, in other words, that a solution
will appear more easily after learning the history such as why a similar
problem occurred in the past, how the people at the time approached it, and
what the result of their method was. For example, when I was a group leader in
grade eight, I had a huge misunderstanding that led to a fight with one of the
members. I decided not to speak to her until she apologized to me first.
However, my mother suggested that I should mend things by taking the initiative
to apologize first as she explained to me of her own experience in the past. I
carefully listened to her and took her advice. It turned out that it was a
misunderstanding on my part. Had I not spoken to her, I would have never
cleared the issue. In this respect, understanding the past of my mother allowed
me to bring about a better result.
Moreover, even if you decide not to follow
the same path that people who have experienced a similar problem went in the
past, being knowledgeable of other points of view is helpful. To be specific,
with a wider perspective, it is likely that you are able to figure out the best
possible solution. It is commonly observed that people may come up with ideas
that have been overlooked by others, as the saying goes, “Two heads are better
than one”. This means that becoming backed up with a wider range of information
is likely to reduce the chances of making a mistake. My personal experience
clearly shows that this is true. Last week, I had to buy an expensive textbook
for my major in college. The price of it was too costly for me; therefore, I
was desperate to find a place where I can buy it as cheaply as possible. I
asked other students for advice, and one of them told me that she bought it
from Amazon. As a result, although I did not purchase the book from Amazon, I
was reminded of Internet websites and was able to get the book in bargain from
an online book store. In this regard, the student’s past experience of buying
the book was beneficial for me with solving my problem.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that
understanding the past is necessary in order to solve problems in the present
and future for the reasons I have mentioned above. All in all, becoming
familiar with the history can lead to a big success today. |