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History. A TOK Area of Knowledge. The past is never dead. It’s not even past. William Faulkner (1897-1972). The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831). The history of hunting would be very different if written by the hunted. Unknown.
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History A TOK Area of Knowledge
The past is never dead. It’s not even past. William Faulkner (1897-1972)
Theonly thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history. G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831)
The history of hunting would be very different if written by the hunted. Unknown
Imagine waking up one morning to discover you have lost your memory. After a few minutes of blind panic, you begin to examine the room you find yourself in. You discover a note that says ‘Meet Penny, Main Street Depot, 9:30.’ You glance at a clock and it is 8:00 a.m. Since you do not want to tell anyone about your predicament, you give yourself an hour and a half to work out who you are from the contents of what is clearly your bedroom and make it to Main Street Depot to meet Penny – whoever she is.
To what extent do you think you would be able to reconstruct your identity by examining the objects in your room? What problems would you experience in trying to do this, and how similar are they to those facing a historian?
If you keep a diary, what determines what you choose to include and what you choose to omit?
To what extent do you think people learn from their mistakes, and to what extent do you think they keep making the same mistakes?
Would you be more inclined to trust an autobiography, or a biography about the same person written by a historian?
What is history? • Evidence • Significance • Explaining and understanding
Why study history? • A sense of identity • A defense against propaganda • Enrich our understanding of human nature
How can the past be known? • Primary sources • Secondary sources • Eye witness – fallible • Social bias • Deliberate manipulation
Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past. George Orwell
Though God cannot alter the past, historians can. Samuel Butler (1835-1902)