This is a statement a great deal of students have said some time in their life, I know I have. I mean why would I need to know which countries Genghis Khan invaded? He's dead so why should i care? Why should I know about the great depression? It happened a long time ago and as they say don't dwell on the past. Well even though these things already happened, history will repeat itself and I find it important to know the things our ancestors did and how it affected the life we have today.
In this world there is always going to be that one radical person/group trying to rule the world, and wars will always rage on. It's up to us to fix that. By learning our past, even the stuff we wish to forget we can prevent such things from happening again. We can put laws and regulations as not to witness similar tragedies. Also it gives us a chance to admire our ancestors and what they did in order to shape the future we have today. I think it is important to know that Martin Luther King Jr. was an essential component to how people interact with each other today. There is no longer segregation between black people and white people because of him and because of him our nation has a black president which in his times was even a ridiculous thing to think. But more importantly he did all of this without the use of violence. It shows the possibility of revolutionizing the way a country views something peacefully. Hopefully people in the future will be able to learn from our history that violence does not have to be the answer.
So hopefully next time you will rethink the question "why do we need to know this?"
