The posts here deal with ancient history, pre-history, archaeology, world history, American history, geological history, and opportunities to learn from past doings and happenings.
The following is a sort of history you might find on this page in the future. I have my biases. For example, Irish history seems so important to me I may put it on a completely different Page which I may call Ireland and Irish.
There are those who deprecate history itself. So common is this deprecation that the expression "That's history." has become deprecatory.
That which happened this morning is history. That is, it is history when someone can tell me about it, or when I witness it and tell you about it. Basically, it seems that history is that told about what has happened. I suspect that there are historians who would not find this simplification agreeable.
By attending to a history, one may not only learn what happened, but also how it happened and other potentially useful information. History can be felt as the pleasure of a good story. Even a history, badly told can contain useful info. Many are finding a lot of history enjoyable and interesting.
Some say that experience is the best teacher and that history is a accounting of our experience
This history business is not always easy. For example, many would agree that a history not told be a historian is just a story. Then again a true story might be thought a history. But then again there are historians who are falsifiers. Not easy.
A lot more can be said and is said about history. As an example it is said that historians record and present history in accord with their own worldviews and perspectives. Some record it as the see it. More try to make sense of histories told by others. A great many historians embrace truth and reality, in accord with how they have seen it and understood it. I believe that their interest in reality is great.
I believe that you could be a historian. When you value evidence, know a true story, and have a realistic imagination, you may be a pretty good one. However, many will call you a story teller, unless you have documents as your principle source of evidence.
Many professional historians tend to examine the nature of changes as an important part of their work. The examine all sorts of changes: cultural, economic, technological and many more.
History is not a science. It has an immense number of variables, yet has no laboratory. Historians do have the advantage of hindsight and they use that advantage. They also find help in the questions they entertain. Such as: "How did we get into this mess?" and "Why did that happen?" At other times they test their ability to suspend judgement and try to place themselves in the context of the moment.
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