The utility of history

I never understood why people over-invest in history. There are several reasons why history is important:
1. There is a historical record
2. The record documents the views of alot of people
3. Critical moments often describe extreme examples that best illustrate a point
4. The details might be more widely known

The flipside is that it can often fall into logical fallacy of 'argument by intimidation' where one historian tries to know more about specific incidences in time rather than to persuade as they wanted. I think there are often more compelling arguments for recent events:
1. The historical record is more readily accessible
2. The quality of information is more readily accessible
3. The context is more relevantSo I have identified here moments in history that serve a point.

You might well respond that particular elements of history would mean less without the fact that repetitions

Andrew Sheldon www.sheldonthinks.com