Old news.

I've thought about that for years now.

It's not about what we did in the past, but rather what we'll do in the future that counts.

It would have to be a really big spider.

It's not about what we did in the past, but rather what we'll do in the future that counts.

But in the future beyond the future the future won't count 'cause it's the past.

Guys, please stop this discussion before my intended profession suddenly becomes null and void.

Because then I'd have to be a hobo.

Aren't these posts proof that things happened in the past? =P

Guys, please stop this discussion before my intended profession suddenly becomes null and void.

 

Because then I'd have to be a hobo.

I hear you can get nice profit catching sewer rats and selling them to labs.

But I still wouldn't be able to spend hours a day making blog comments on BZP.

Well, we know there's impact craters on the world so we know asteroids hit there. Nobody was around who could have witnessed this and remember it, but it still happened.

The question now is: "if we have forgotten about something/don't know something from the past and it is rediscovered now, how willingly do we accept it to be true and to be an actual past event?"

If everyone forgot about the past, it'd make it appear less real, but it would still be "real" in one of the definitions of the word.

I mean, there are some craters in the ground, destroyed hangars and bullet holes in walls of military installations that exist today from Pearl Harbor.

Plus, then you end up with all that sunken stuff under the ocean... and all those ancient artifacts we have around.

'Course, if everyone forgot about the past, then the mistakes made in the past will be able to be made again in the future.

But what if it was planted there by someone who wants us to think that such things were real?

On another note, if a tree falls in a forest with no one to hear, does it make a sound?

Plus, then you end up with all that sunken stuff under the ocean... and all those ancient artifacts we have around.

Or a giant garbage pit in the Pacific.

Disco is definately proof of the past...but it still lives on today!!!!! >

-Jordboy1

Well, I was thinking the "affected people" part also includes physical proof in other ways. If the falling asteroid had hit the earth without leaving a crater and then disintegrated (no, I don't know how, it's just an example XD), and no one had seen it fall, it would never be recorded and, to everyone's minds, wouldn't have happened.

But if one person saw it fall, but was a hermit and refused to talk to anyone, then would it exist only for him and once he died, cease to have been?

Turakii

Interesting that I have written an essay on this. It was only half a page long, but it was an essay compared to the sentence or two that was expected. It was just too interesting to let the thought hanging at something as simple as "History is important because we can learn from our mistakes".

The way I see it, there are two histories: Things that have happened and their memory. World War II happened, or at least I'm pretty sure. For all I know everything they teach me in history class is a lie, but for now I will presume it to be true. Why would I want to learn about World War II? Well, first of all, it's real (presumably), as opposed to something that's fiction (supposedly). When you learn about things that have happened in the past, then you consider it history. History is also a subject, a study, something that is in our minds. That is the other history. It's the history we remember.

Meanwhile, sometimes we change our history, or at least memory. All history classes have their slants. American History classes often look at world events and draw conclusions are relevant to America. I would imagine that the focus of history classes in Japan would focus on history relevant to Japan. This is not bad. Of course, there's always the danger of viewing history from the perspective that everything revolves around you, or seeing yourselves as the main characters. What often happens in "Memory-History" (Should I call is "Mystery"?) is that there will be a slant. The people doing the teaching might look at their own history and see things that they don't like, things that antagonize them. Soon history lessons become biased. Bad things in a country's own history are watered down, maybe even forgotten, in the name of keeping one's pride, dignity, honor, glory, or whatever such a culture might value. The point is, everybody wants to be the good guy. Everybody wants to be the culture that can be respected as being strong and true. When it gets to the point where the people of one culture forget their mistakes altogether, people might come to the conclusion that there's something inherently better about their culture. They don't make mistakes. Their judgments are infallible. When one cannot make mistakes, who needs to justify their actions? Perhaps if they are the good guys, then maybe they deserve more than everybody else, too. Granted, this mentality can be used in a war-fairing nation as a campaign tool for rallying support of its people, but it goes deeper than that. It stabs straight at the simple, one-sentence answer that my history teacher would have expected of me. Why is it important to remember history - history as it is? "History is important because we can learn from our mistakes." Ignorance leads to suffering. Nations should be aware of their human flaws, for nations are indeed composed of humans, and remember those which they committed so that mistakes are not made again. If America was to forget all about previous depressions, recessions, and other economic troubles as well as what we did before, during, and after them, then he/she (Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty, take your pick) would be in a real hot-spot when another troubling economic times were to come along.

---

This has been an excerpt from the next book in Kraggh's bestselling series, Because I Had an All-Powerful, All-Knowing Mother. To help him get the Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, and other prestigious awards that really have no meaning, pre-order this book now and claim that it changed your life and other nonsense so that it seems that they are somehow more distinguished than other books.

Your Honor,

Emperor Kraggh

Think of it this way. If there is no past, then there is no point in faith, hope, or love, since the person, event, or thing that caused it to be manifested inside oneself would never have done so.

Since we all know these three exist, we can safely assume that there is a past and not lay awake at 12:00 midnight contemplating it.

~