What is History?

This image shows a linear timeline.

History is a vast topic, and includes anything in the past, no matter how large or how trivial it is. History can be a broad topic, about the whole world, or can just look at one person’s daily routine. History is such an enormously vast topic, that it is hard to put into one category, or even to describe. Views on history vary; there is the linear view, in which there is a defined start and end to everything, and there is the cyclic view, in which all of history is a cycle, with no definite beginning or end. The Hegelian theory of history states that a thesis and antithesis combine to produce the synthesis, or basically cause and effect; every event will trigger something else. The final view on history is the vortex theory. History grows and shrinks, and grows and shrinks, as more or less events are occurring or repeat themselves. All of these theories have some light to them, but I believe that the cyclic theory is the most accurate. As stated above, history can be broad, including the whole world, or more focused, as on one person’s life. History in its entirety is cyclic. Major or worldly events reoccur, like wars. The saying “History repeats itself” really ties into this view of history. As events repeat themselves, like a cycle, we can learn from them. And not only can the Earth’s history as a whole repeat, but a person’s life routine repeats daily. One may, for example, wake up, eat, go to school, come home, do homework, eat, and go to bed, and this may be what they do every day. Going on an even larger scale than the Earth, planets have set cycles, or orbits, that they travel around over and over again. Almost every aspect of history can be determined cyclic, as there is no set beginning and end. Even if life as we know it changes, history will still live on, even if there is no one to record it.

The vortex theory of history is very close in definition to the cyclic theory of history. The vortex states that history grows larger and smaller as events occur and reoccur. The vortex theory is shown through civilizations rising and falling, and it is very similar to the cyclic theory through the repetition of events. However, the cyclic theory shows a definite cycle, and the vortex is more of a linear repetition. Though all theories of history are accurate to some degree, the cyclic theory definitely serves as the best representation. The Hegelian and linear theories of history portray certain aspects of history, but I do not believe that they could represent it entirely. The linear theory would be depicted as a timeline, and this is how many historians map out history, but it cannot show cycles. Timelines may be arrows, but supporters of this theory say that history started at one time, perhaps when the world began, and will end at some point. But even before the Earth, something was going on. Even if there was just blackness, one could say that “blackness” was the history of that time. Everything that the human mind can think of can be considered history. The Hegelian theory also can exhibit parts of history. It is true that every event is caused by another event, but I do not think that this is a good description of history as a whole. Obviously, it is difficult to pinpoint history into one theory, because in reality no one can fully know the dimensions of it.

Humans have only been on the Earth for so long. Before us, there were dinosaurs, and before that, nothing. Archeologists and historians study these things, but they can never truly know what was going on in those times. With history, anything is possible. We humans can only know what we have seen, but things could have occurred that we never even knew were possible. For example, many believe that the big bang is what created the Earth. But few have ever thought that maybe even this is a cycle, that once the world collapses, another big bang occurs, and then another. History is such an abstract term that our human minds cannot explore every corner of it, or even dream of fully understanding it. Human minds are incredible, but compared to how much knowledge is out there, they are nothing. The human mind is limited to knowing only what it has seen or experienced; it has troubled picturing any other things. Our human race will probably never know all the facts of history, but we need to continue building on and recording what we have today.

History is something we can learn from. It has shaped our world, as we have studied it and learned from our mistakes. Without history, we just simply would not exist. History can help us change and progress into a better world in the future. However, many parts of history are forgotten. Historians record major events, like wars, which involve a lot of people, but do not record the simple things. This does not make them any less important, but this is yet another example of how certain parts of history are not needed for or do not apply to everyone. Whatever the case, we will continue to make history, just as our ancestors did, and just as our descendents will continue to do.

Overall, history is everything that has happened, no matter how big or small, no matter who did it, no matter who it affected. History is cyclic; it has repeating cycles, including things like day-by-day life, orbiting planets, and maybe even more cycles that our human minds can comprehend. And although history is important, the phrase “let go of the past” does have some importance also. There is nothing we can do to change history, but we need to keep it in mind as we enjoy our lives and set out the history for future generations.

Websites Used:

"The Circle Theory: A Theory of Cyclic Existence." Scienceray | All That is Science, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics. Scienceray, 18 Oct. 2007. Web. 30 Jan. 2010. .

Images From:

Extinction Timeline. Photograph. Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia, 13 July 2008. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .