What is it about?
As a historian, I ask, I opened this article by asking, what is the point of history looking backwards in a time when our present actions define whether there is a future for humankind and other species on the planet? Answering my rhetorical question, I showed several examples that history is still relevant. Historical parallels can help us to understand and solve present global challenges, and showing how we ended up in the current situation also helps us to anticipate future problems. While searching for past regularities it is, however, necessary to go beyond a mere reconstruction of past events to an understanding of the underlying processes. Otherwise, we might end up finding the regularities we wish for instead of real ones. What is the point of the history of science and technology at a moment when our current fossil-fueled technology has plunged our home planet out of the stable climate of the Holocene into the climate instability characterizing the Anthropocene. Can history help us to combat climate change and find cures for the coronavirus pandemic?
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Why is it important?
I claim that, in these circumstances, the value of history is defined by whether it can guide this watershed moment in human history. In this essay, I will present a handful of examples of how history can provide this much-needed guidance.
Perspectives
I opened this article by asking, what is the point of history looking backwards in a time when our present actions define whether there is a future for humankind and other species on the planet? Answering my rhetorical question, I showed several examples that history is still relevant. Historical parallels can help us to understand and solve present global challenges, and showing how we ended up in the current situation also helps us to anticipate future problems. While searching for past regularities it is, however, necessary to go beyond a mere reconstruction of past events to an understanding of the underlying processes. Otherwise, we might end up finding the regularities we wish for instead of real ones.
Dr Jan Kunnas
University of Eastern Finland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Historic perspectives for responsible earth system governance, January 2024, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-443-15654-0.00006-2.
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