Just a bit curious about this.... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

cybersharp · 12-16-2004, 10:35 PM

I was wondering what the opinions of people on this ...that "If you can not learn from 1 billion years of history then history is doomed to repeat itself."

I was curious about people's opinions on this famous quote.
Do you think that if you dont learn from all your mistakes you will repeat them? Or do you simply think that regardless history is going to repeat itself anyway?

Anyway what are all your opinions?

cyrnel · 12-16-2004, 10:58 PM

I believe it's true but over-simplified. The best of us can learn, then repeat an error in a moment of weakness. Also, what one considers a mistake may be someone else's plan.

This can get deep. A simple summary for me is that humans have shortcomings, which when combined with limited resources, manifest an infinite variety of the same stupids.

Or, how can I expect to avoid the last billion years' mistakes when I continue to stop at Taco Bell every other week?

12-16-2004, 11:11 PM

You can't analyze, decide, disect and understand in totallity everything.

It could be said we all have the human condition. History will repeat its-self in the fact we are all humans existing. We all are driven by a system of biological urges, we all have the same physical functions and constructions. We may live in a very diffrent psychological enviroment then our ancestors but still influenced by our basic nature. To me, it's an argument about nature versus nurture.

12-17-2004, 06:29 AM

"If you can not learn from 1 billion years of history then history is doomed to repeat itself."

The fact that we've managed 1 billion years of history is both a surprising and if true, a deep testement to the fact that we've been getting things pretty right for all this time. I personally hope we really are 'doomed' to be around for another 1 billion years.

Bill O'Rights · 12-17-2004, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyrnel

How can I expect to avoid the last billion years' mistakes when I continue to stop at Taco Bell every other week?

I, Bill O'Rights, do hereby declare this...to be the quote of the day.

Suave · 12-17-2004, 08:53 AM

I agree completely, as history consistently repeats itself. I disagree with the use of "1 billion years", since "civilized" humans have only been around for about 4000.

cybersharp · 12-17-2004, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suave

I agree completely, as history consistently repeats itself. I disagree with the use of "1 billion years", since "civilized" humans have only been around for about 4000.

Yea im not sure if my quote really was a billion..But i couldnt remember the exact time it had in the quote so I just put a billion in there to prove my point.

Suave · 12-17-2004, 07:02 PM

Good stuff. Turns out I'm also wrong though, and if civilization is cyclical, we may well have been around for 1 billion years and not know it, but I digress. Mmm, digress.

joeshoe · 12-17-2004, 07:47 PM

I think history will repeat itself anyway, because even if you learn it, it's still likely to commit the same mistakes anyway, without realizing it.

godxzilla · 12-18-2004, 11:26 PM

I hate that saying, but I sort of agree with it.

I certainly didnt like hearing it while taking history in high school and college

Id say that if we dont learn from our mistakes we will repeat them, but there is plenty in history that are NOT mistakes, and therefore we dont need to learn from it!!

Zeraph · 12-19-2004, 12:41 PM

It will repeat itself until we learn otherwise. And no, we do not learn much from history but more from the present, from ourselves. It is very difficult to learn from history as it is never ever fully accurate.

SparklingDot · 12-19-2004, 10:51 PM

one must identify the large mistakes, and teach the next generation not to repeat them. In doing so, the instructor neglects other events / courses of action that would be either extremely beneficial or disasterous, and the next generation continues to do these things wrong while being mindful o fthe mistakes they were taught NOT to make. So for every mistake that we strive to learn from, we create new mistakes for the future generations to learn from.

1010011010 · 12-20-2004, 09:29 AM

Hindsight is 20/20, remember?

Even if you had an intimate in encyclopedic knowledge of history, you'd still be doomed to repeat mistakes. What one needs is a perfect knowledge of the present in addition to history. Otherwise, a misaprehension of the way things are will lead you to make the same decisions (decisions that seem like the best course of action at the time) that will look like mistakes in five minutes or 30 years when all the information comes out or new events put past events in a different context, making a previously unrecognized pattern obvious.

12-16-2004, 10:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
cybersharp Insane	Just a bit curious about this.... I was wondering what the opinions of people on this ...that "If you can not learn from 1 billion years of history then history is doomed to repeat itself." I was curious about people's opinions on this famous quote. Do you think that if you dont learn from all your mistakes you will repeat them? Or do you simply think that regardless history is going to repeat itself anyway? Anyway what are all your opinions? __________________ 0PtIcAl

12-17-2004, 08:53 AM	#6 (permalink)
Suave Twitterpated Location: My own little world (also Canada)	I agree completely, as history consistently repeats itself. I disagree with the use of "1 billion years", since "civilized" humans have only been around for about 4000. __________________ "Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

12-17-2004, 07:02 PM	#8 (permalink)
Suave Twitterpated Location: My own little world (also Canada)	Good stuff. Turns out I'm also wrong though, and if civilization is cyclical, we may well have been around for 1 billion years and not know it, but I digress. Mmm, digress. __________________ "Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

12-18-2004, 11:26 PM	#10 (permalink)
godxzilla Crazy Location: Columbus, OH	I hate that saying, but I sort of agree with it. I certainly didnt like hearing it while taking history in high school and college Id say that if we dont learn from our mistakes we will repeat them, but there is plenty in history that are NOT mistakes, and therefore we dont need to learn from it!! __________________ Mike

12-19-2004, 10:51 PM	#12 (permalink)
SparklingDot Insane	one must identify the large mistakes, and teach the next generation not to repeat them. In doing so, the instructor neglects other events / courses of action that would be either extremely beneficial or disasterous, and the next generation continues to do these things wrong while being mindful o fthe mistakes they were taught NOT to make. So for every mistake that we strive to learn from, we create new mistakes for the future generations to learn from. __________________ 17 seconds is all you really need - Smashing Pumpkins

12-16-2004, 10:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	I believe it's true but over-simplified. The best of us can learn, then repeat an error in a moment of weakness. Also, what one considers a mistake may be someone else's plan. This can get deep. A simple summary for me is that humans have shortcomings, which when combined with limited resources, manifest an infinite variety of the same stupids. Or, how can I expect to avoid the last billion years' mistakes when I continue to stop at Taco Bell every other week?

12-16-2004, 11:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
NotMVH Guest	You can't analyze, decide, disect and understand in totallity everything. It could be said we all have the human condition. History will repeat its-self in the fact we are all humans existing. We all are driven by a system of biological urges, we all have the same physical functions and constructions. We may live in a very diffrent psychological enviroment then our ancestors but still influenced by our basic nature. To me, it's an argument about nature versus nurture.

12-17-2004, 06:29 AM	#4 (permalink)
zen_tom Guest	"If you can not learn from 1 billion years of history then history is doomed to repeat itself." The fact that we've managed 1 billion years of history is both a surprising and if true, a deep testement to the fact that we've been getting things pretty right for all this time. I personally hope we really are 'doomed' to be around for another 1 billion years.

12-17-2004, 07:47 PM	#9 (permalink)
joeshoe Crazy Location: California	I think history will repeat itself anyway, because even if you learn it, it's still likely to commit the same mistakes anyway, without realizing it.

12-19-2004, 12:41 PM	#11 (permalink)
Zeraph Banned Location: The Cosmos	It will repeat itself until we learn otherwise. And no, we do not learn much from history but more from the present, from ourselves. It is very difficult to learn from history as it is never ever fully accurate.

12-20-2004, 09:29 AM	#13 (permalink)
1010011010 Psycho Location: Virginia Beach, VA	Hindsight is 20/20, remember? Even if you had an intimate in encyclopedic knowledge of history, you'd still be doomed to repeat mistakes. What one needs is a perfect knowledge of the present in addition to history. Otherwise, a misaprehension of the way things are will lead you to make the same decisions (decisions that seem like the best course of action at the time) that will look like mistakes in five minutes or 30 years when all the information comes out or new events put past events in a different context, making a previously unrecognized pattern obvious. __________________ *Simple Machines in Higher Dimensions*