Some people hold the view that history does not reveal useful information, while there are those who believe that history brings practical insights into the understanding of present days. While some historical works might be biassed, this essay will argue that studying history is essential, as historical events help us better understand the consequences of human actions.
On the one hand, history is often written by the victors, which can lead to a biassed or one-sided perspective. This can be a reason for highlighting a particular point of view, ignoring other key aspects, and thus presenting an incomplete or even misled understanding of the past. For instance, in the Soviet Union, most of the historical events of that time were rewritten, and historians who were against the censorship were hardly punished, leading to distortion of the reality of that time and concealment of crimes such as the murders of Kazakh politicians. However, I believe that mistakes in history can be minimised through researches based on the analysis of different sourses.
On the other hand, revealing the past assists in making predictions about the future. In other words, by looking through the end of historic occasions, experts can draw conclusions about the events happening today, and they can even prevent negative actions. For example, the same experience with the Soviet Union has shown that socialism as a socio-political theory has many weaknesses, and knowledge about this historical period gives experts the opportunity to avoid the mistakes of the past. For this reason, I believe that looking through the past helps us to better understand nowadays and make predictions for the future.
To conclude, while in some historical events some key points may be hidden, resulting in inappropriate conclusions, I am of the point that understanding the patterns of the past may be implemented in the present and even in the future, mostly leading to positive outcomes.
