‘Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’ – George Santayana
Knowledge of the past is crucial in helping us to learn from occurrences in history. Only then can we be well-informed on the events and key individuals which have significantly impacted life today. History tells us about the foundations of the world, which are constantly built upon with time, so we can learn different ways of approaching issues in the modern day. It is vital to learn from history in order to shape the world into a better place and try not to repeat actions from the past which have resulted in destructive consequences.
It is evident from events such as the Holocaust, that prejudice can harm a group of people. This event is still spoken about today through Holocaust survivors, memorials such as Yad Vashem, and annual remembrances. The misfortunes of events like these have a widespread impact, even on those who weren’t actually involved. It’s easy to say that we have learned from the past so can combat problems like this in the twenty first century and we will never repeat these actions – but to what extent is this actually true? Surely just thinking about the tragedies that befell is enough to deter a human from repeating this and allowing oneself to so publicly express a prejudice. The ability to recall events in history that have had a significant impact still to this day, should confidently help us to be able to stop echoing these events, as the extent of somebody’s actions has been proven to be catastrophic. Therefore, knowledge of these incidents should discourage it from happening again, hence letting people find another and more practical way of battling prejudices, rather than letting it lead to such a terrible event.
However, it can be argued, based on events that are taking place currently, it cannot be said that knowledge of the past helps us prepare for challenges in the 21st century. This is proven by the emergence of Xinjiang ‘re-education’ camps in China, persecuting the Muslims, which have rules such as ‘increasing discipline and punishment’ and ‘strict secrecy’. Documents from these camps display the psychological damage that can occur to the inmates – there is mass brainwashing, torture, and feeding Muslims pork, which is against their religion. So, in reality, it’s not entirely true to say that history helps us prepare for challenges nowadays. This is because it is evident that countries haven’t found another way of more humanely, combating intolerances, and still take it out on the group themselves. George Bernard Shaw said that ‘We learn from history that we learn nothing form history,’ which supports the fact that actions from the past are reoccurring.
Medical advancements are made as a result of building upon previous knowledge from the past. Watson and Crick, who discovered the double-helix shape of DNA have moulded our knowledge, and enabled other scientists to build upon this information, thus helping us know the information that we have today, about how our DNA shapes a person. They understood that DNA unzips and copies to form proteins, and the fact that the structure of DNA was understood meant that scientists could identify parts of the DNA which caused disease. They wouldn’t have been able to do this without building upon the past knowledge of Franklin and Wilson’s imagery that they created of DNA using x-rays. Still today, scientists are building on Watson & Crick’s work of the DNA’s structure to find further explanation for diseases and characteristic inheritance.
Even the simplest biological discovery leads to hundreds of other scientists trying to build on that knowledge, and consequently, finding out more about life and disease. History shows us how errors can lead to insights and why it is important to address research questions by falsification rather than by just accumulating facts, in order to avoid being misled.
Edward Jenner, who discovered a vaccine for cowpox was one of the foundations for understanding the importance of vaccines. This leap in medical advancements for using vaccinations to prevent disease rather than inoculations which were for the most part ineffective, was a breakthrough in medicine, which allowed other individuals to build upon this knowledge. Although the cowpox vaccine itself was limited to just cowpox, it allowed other scientists to develop further vaccines. This discovery influenced Louis Pasteur to create milder forms of vaccines for other diseases from specific microbes. The understanding that microbes were present in every disease meant that future vaccines could be developed as the disease-ridden microbes were discovered and could be combatted with the medicine given in vaccinations.
Gowan’s discovery of lymphocytes in 1959 allows us to understand that they can be used in a small quota to destroy antigens, and stay in the body, remembering the shapes of these antigens that cause diseases. As a result of this discovery, and the mass vaccination programmes following this, it meant that polio was globally eradicated, and in the 21st century, it is no longer a threat as vaccinations for this disease have completely eradicated the pathogen. However, there are some viruses frequently mutating into new strains such as the flu. Lymphocytes don’t recognise these and consequently new vaccines are made for the flu regularly. In the 21st century, although faced with different strains of diseases, because of the prior knowledge about pathogens and lymphocytes, scientists can immediately create a new vaccination in order to keep the population safe. Although faced with a challenging evolving nature of disease, it can be combatted, as a result of scientists being able to build on past vaccines, which proves how helpful it is to build upon older knowledge.
Industries have been economically boosted as a result of industrialisation due to the faster and cheaper technology that is used in factories. During the industrial revolution, many jobs were created, especially in factories, and machines here were operated without guards, meaning that moving machinery could catch on to a woman’s hair and rip it out and scalp her. This was dangerous as there were no regulations in place that cared for the health and safety of workers. Even children were used in factories as cheap labour and when they cleared faults in machinery, they accumulated dust from under machines which could cause irritation and damage to the lungs. In 1784, poor working conditions caused a fever outbreak among cotton mill workers in the United Kingdom, amongst children and adult workers. This eventually led to the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act in 1802, which enforced the regulation that all workplaces should have better ventilation. The overpowering loud noise of weaving and spinning machines led to deafness in children. This unregulated technology in the workplace during the 19th and early 20th century led to injury risks, and there were no laws prohibiting children from working in these harsh conditions, which led to loss of life in this vulnerable group as they would often fall asleep on the job, which could result in injury. The digital revolution has made technology in factories safer to use, in order to increase the safety in factories. The Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 ensures that welfare within the workplace should be enforced, and it defines that employers should establish a system of public supervision. The fines and imprisonment penalties for not following these regulations scaremonger employers into bettering conditions in the work place, as there is a fear of otherwise losing business. Knowing the damage that has occurred in the past as a result of industrialisation, has made it possible to have key legislations in the UK which improve work life as there is a lower risk of injury.
There has been a huge change in social progression, especially for women in the past 100 years. Previously, women were considered inferior to men, and were not allowed the right to vote as their opinion wasn’t seen as of an equal value to that of males, as their role was seen as just cleaning, cooking and looking after children at home. The suffragette movement was a turning point in history for women’s rights, where pre-1918, women were only allowed to vote if they paid taxes. The suffragette movement was an organisation of militant women who fought for women’s rights to vote. Their success in 1918 when The Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, is a key part of history, showing that women fighting for what they believed in, and their determination to get the vote, had succeeded.
Despite this leap forward into a more equal society, there are still obstacles challenging complete gender equality in the 21st century, which indicates that we still haven’t learnt from the past, that there should be completely equal rights for men and women. The gender pay gap is an example of this, where in the 21st century, there are still problems with equality. These challenges are combatted by feminist groups such as the #PayMeToo movement, where women are fighting for equal pay. Knowing that in the past, the suffragettes were successful in securing political gender equality, it helps women in the 21st century to know that their movements can have a positive and successful impact in helping to improve women’s rights. Therefore, knowledge of the past helps us to know that it is possible to change society’s outlook on the importance and position of women in society. Challenges that women are faced with can be combatted, as it has been seen to work in the past, so it encourages more fighting for equal rights. Understanding the history of women’s rights helps people in the 21st century to understand how they came to live in the more accepting society we live in today.
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