When I was in school, my strongest subjects were in STEM — science and math specifically.
In high school, I was required to study history. In college, I was required to study philosophy or some other humanities subject.
At the time, I was slightly annoyed that I had to “waste” time studying these subjects instead of what I really wanted to study.
My original thinking was, “What’s the point of studying what happened in the past when today’s world is all about the future and where it is going? What is the point of studying the thoughts of people who died 2,000 years ago? How can that possibly be relevant to modern-day living?”
Well… I was wrong.
Today, I don’t see history as the study of what happened in the past. I see it as the study of mistakes made by the people who came before us — mistakes that can be learned from and avoided in the future. I see it as understanding the foundations that have led to modern-day predicaments.
It’s impossible to understand the conflicts in the Middle East (and their impact on modern-day societies and economies) without understanding the historical context that led to them.
The war in Ukraine has a historical context that, if ignored, provides an incomplete view of the situation.
Philosophers who died 2,000 years ago aren’t purveyors of obsolete ideas. Rather, they provide prescriptions for how to deal with the timeless problems human beings have dealt with for thousands of years.
What do you do when you don’t get what you want? That’s not just a modern-day problem. It has been a problem since the start of humanity. That’s the philosophy of adversity.
What do you do when someone you care about dies? That’s the philosophy of loss and grief.
What do you do when you love someone but you’re not sure if they love you back? That’s the philosophy of love (and heartbreak), which predates dating apps.
Everything we are. Everything we do. Everything we experience. It’s all connected to everything else.
You can’t fully grasp today’s economic situation without looking at data prior to this year.
You can’t fully grasp race relations and racial tension by looking at news headlines from only the past 30 days.
The emotional arc of being human hasn’t changed; only the technical details on the fringes have.
Adversity is still adversity. Loss is still loss. Matters of the heart are still matters of the heart.
If you want to figure out where you want to go in the future, you have to understand your present. To fully understand your present, you have to understand the past that has led you to your present.
Everything is connected to everything else.
Let me know your thoughts on this by commenting below.
How to Live an Amazing Life – Sign Up for Free Tips and Strategies for your Career and Life.
This form collects your name and email so that we can add you to our email list that delivers the free resources you are requesting. Check out our privacy policy for details on how we protect and manage your submitted data.
We’ll never spam you or share your email. Unsubscribe at any time.
6 thoughts on “The Study of Mistakes”
hey Victor, good post, as usual.
What I am teaching my kid these days is how to connect the dots, and how the decisions that we make today are not only connected with the present, but with the future as well. And failure … well, failure is just one of those dots.
George – that’s a great way to think about it.
I agree with Yaohui. „It’s said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others’ mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others’s successes.“ — John C. Maxwell
Learning history positions you to have an opportunity to be wiser and wisest. I also wish I understood this back in high school…
I totally agree. I would add also that life is also learning from mistakes, and reading biographies is a great way to learn from other people mistakes, avoiding to learn “directly” 😉
Great thoughts on how philosophy, politics and personal emotions closely interact than we assume! I would like to know your thoughts on “Whether wars can be completely avoided?”. Because inherent differences amongst humans in personalities will inevitably lead to disagreements and in turn lead to overpowering others (ideas/countries). Is this destined to happen one way or other? Do we have a way of living together without contests/wars?
Parthiban – I wish wars could be avoided, but history has shown it isn’t. I think wars between reasonable people can be avoided as there are other ways to resolve a dispute. However, I think when someone is intent on invading another country or committing genocide, negotiation can only go so far.
-Victor