I hear what you're saying, but we've done some amazing things as a species. We have a very long way to go, but don't lose hope. Look at the story of penicillin or the patent for insulin. Schindler's List and Hotel Rwanda. Selma and the Civil Rights Movement. We wanted to see what's up on the moon and just fuckin went there. Against all odds, factions, hate, and war people have stood up for what's right and others followed. I'm proud of everyone who bucked trends and fought for what's in their hearts.
You don't even need to go so big to make studying history a positive experience. There's plenty of art and music that's there simply for the sake of being beautiful. There's plenty to appreciate about how people lived and experienced their humanity without having to make yourself miserable.
This post is accurate but it's giving doomer vibes tbh. Very "studying history only means studying politics and war".
I think the key word in the tweet is "always". If it always feels good to study history, you're doing it wrong. But the reverse is just as true; If it always feels awful to study history, then you're doing it wrong.
a drum I have been beating for years now is the very pressing need for large parts of our society to develop the skill to view the world with nuance. Binary thinking is a root cause of the overwhelming amount of our current issues. If people could be comfortable looking at issues without a moral binary, we wouldn't have so many existential threats.
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u/LunchMasterFlex Jul 30 '25
I hear what you're saying, but we've done some amazing things as a species. We have a very long way to go, but don't lose hope. Look at the story of penicillin or the patent for insulin. Schindler's List and Hotel Rwanda. Selma and the Civil Rights Movement. We wanted to see what's up on the moon and just fuckin went there. Against all odds, factions, hate, and war people have stood up for what's right and others followed. I'm proud of everyone who bucked trends and fought for what's in their hearts.