Why do we need history class?

Why do we need History class?? If we're supposed to look at the future, we don't need it. Don't get me wrong, it's interesting, I just don't see the point.

history repeats itself
its important to know what happened to lead us to where we are
its important to see past mistakes and give people credit for what they've done to secure us a good future
all the influences of places and people that have led up to today
in my opinion, history is THE most important class along with english
if you don't know how your government and the world got to where they're at, you don't know sh*t

we are supposed to use passed mistakes to know how NOT to make mistakes in the future. It can also be interesting to find out what happened in a certain area a really long time ago.

to excell in the future we must understand the past.

I agree 100% wit foxxy18146

and...please appreciate the privilege of edcation

I do, I do... I go to an ADVANCED ACADEMY for christ's sake! I just don't really like and/or get the point of History Class...

too stop from making future mistakes...
also it tells you why things are the way they are, e.g. how laws came about

history is a part of the future

I love foxxy's answer. I read a book by a news reporter recently. She found that, as she went into war situations around the world, she would ask the people what they were fighting about. They often referred back to things that had happened 100 years ago, 50 years ago... The mistakes which were made then were still influencing the present.

If our foreign policy experts think only of the future, imagine the mistakes they will make by knowing nothing about the past... If we, watching the news and voting for politicians, can't see the patterns of the past repeating themselves in our own time, we will make mistakes we could have forseen, if only we'd known...

And we need to remember the great things that happened too, as foxxy says. There are people we are indebted to, for their inventions, their ideas, their gift of freedom.

In high school history was probably my least favorite class. HS history was so whitewashed it really wasn't interesting.

College history was a lot better. I learned world history; a lot of stuff went on long before American history even started. In college American history went beyond the propaganda and taught about our blunders and shortcomings as well as our successes and achievements. Where HS history was dull and superficial college history was complex and insightful. HS history required memorization while college history required understanding.

The best quote I know about the importance of history is: Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it..

to made you realized whats the diffirence between before and after. and to know your culture and many more things..

example: its a good thing Hitler wasn't a history buff, because he would have known not to mess with Russia. And history would be much different.

to know how things were and how they became, and how your country fought for itself and built itself, and the good amazing people who helped, etc.
but I think history class is also good to sleep, lol, a history class never passed without me taking a long long comfertable nap on my desk!! but don't do that! cause some people can't do what I'm doing, some people think they can, but when they come to try it, they fail!
I always sleep and keep my ears with the teacher, so that I can be able to answer her questions!

We do need history. History is the study of man's past activities, its relation to the present and how the future could be shaped. It helps us to know how countries were formed and developed. It helps us to use past ideas to solve future problems. History as a subject seeks to expose the truth. So we need history to know all these things.

We reall do need to learn about history. It's so we don't have another Hitler. Stalin. Ghangis Khan. It's so we don't relieve slavery of people. The almosteradication of Jews.

History is the basis and foundation of humanity. Learning aboutit helps build a stronger foundation for whatever. Like if you wer an architect and studied the history of some types of buildings you would have a better understanding of architectural design. It helps in medicine, psychology, etc... I'm not saying that history is the funnest subject to learn about but, without it then the world would be doomed to relieve it's most horrible moments from the past.

Because, without history to build upon, where would we be as a society as a whole?

I know this is probably a non-read forum thread anymore but I just felt the need to add this. If we never had a History class then how would we have ever learned about the atrocities of Hitler? Or how about the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.?