David McCullough's quote "There isn't any such thing as the past" is essential to his view of why we study history. This quote means the people we read about in history books were not living in the past. To them it was just everyday life, they lived in their own present. McCullough believes there is no way to see the light in life without the shadow. The shadow is the past and the light is the present. The past tells a great story. He also thinks history can be a source of pleasure like music and art. Future generations shouldn't be denied pleasure that is created from history. He says we should study history because it is a lesson in proportions. Every time we think life is tough it is important to remember someone else had it worse. Younger generations are not superior to older ones. It is important to put the past in perspective because we often say life was so much simpler back then. The thing to remember is that it wasn't simple to them. They were faced with just as many challenges. The reason we forget about the past is that we are interested in the future. People need to study history so that they can realize there would be no future without the past.
There were a several other things in this interview that I found interesting. I liked McCullough's realization that older generations come up with a plan for future generations to carry out. He used the example of the Brooklyn Bridge where John Roebling designed the bridge, but his son had to build it. Also, the founders of our country created a plan for our nation and left it up for their future generations to build the nation. The other great part of the interview was when McCullough compared historians to umpires. He said they were the same as umpires who had to make close calls at home plate. Historians don't always make the right calls, but they do research very hard to try to make the right decisions. This represents the fact that some of our history textbooks may be biased.
David McCullough suggests that we should study history for many reasons. Most importantly, he views history as a source of pleasure, similar to art, music, and theater. He does not believe we should deny ourselves, or future generations, this pleasure. He considers his research joyful and has an immense amount of fun learning new things. He also believes that history makes us better citizens. He believes that we can learn from the lessons of history and make a better future for ourselves from these lessons.
I thought that McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. I was intrigued by the term paper that McCullough gave his students at Cornell University. He gave each of them a photograph, and the assignment was to write a paper derived from the photograph. No two photographs were the same, so the students were not competing with each other. McCullough believes that this is the way we should learn history and it was the essence of the American history course. One example of a paper was about a photograph of Sergeant York, and through researching Sergeant York, the student learned about all of World War I. I was fascinated by this style of learning and am curious to see if we could do a similar paper.
"There isn't any such thing as the past" is one of the main reasons that David McCullough believes that history is the toughest and most interesting subject to study. By studying history, one doesn't just learn about what happened to others, they can also learn about themselves. David McCullough stresses that knowing history makes people better citizens. History is one of the toughest subjects to study because different events and people's actions could be interpreted wrong. But at the same time, historians always have their own ideas of what happened during a certain time period, so making a mistake isn’t as devastating as making a mistake in say, math. Studying history doesn’t just mean that you’re learning about the people of the past, and that they don’t have any affect on your life. The people that we learn about in history didn’t see themselves as living in the past. They also didn’t do the things that they did because they thought we would enjoy learning about it. These people that we learn about in history were just living in the present and living their lives. Just like them, soon out lives will become the history that is studied in school and from books.
History is a very hard subject because it is very hard to teach to someone that what had happened didn’t have to happen the way it did. The people of the past made certain decisions, which now affect us today. The events that we study could have happened in many other ways. Usually though, history isn’t taught like that. History is normally taught as a sequence of event, which can be rather dull. Studying history can be a source of entertainment if it is taught the right way. Studying history also isn’t just an educational lesson. Morality lessons can be taught through learning about past events and people. Learning about historic events can also be a very motivating force, at least to us Americans. David McCullough talks about how people have always been mostly interested in the future. This is because they were always told that the future will be better. Studying history is very important because its like a discovery and an adventure.
David McCullough described how we as people in the present can learn from the stories of victories or mistakes that people have made in the past, and I agree with him. He seems to take Theodore Roosevelt as an example for someone to learn from. He wrote a book detailing Teddy’s life and he was fascinated by the way he was able to read two books in a night and quote them five years later. Even though McCullough thought he was a genius, others today would probably think he was a lunatic. The readers can learn from these accounts that McCullough has observed and use it for their own knowledge and make their own assumption about how people, such as Teddy Roosevelt, can be. This also comes into play when McCullough was researching the Brooklyn Bridge. He wanted to show people a story of true American heroism and how if a person is motivated enough and believes they can make history, they can do so. McCullough also wants people to know history because he believes that you have to understand how things worked before the present and have a better appreciation for the present era. He states later on in the article about there was no simple time in the past. It seemed hard for them, even though now things have changed into a more complex world than it was before. Those in the past endured more than we ever could with the way this generation has been brought up. History is not some string of chronological events that one has to memorize. It is a series of stories that one can enjoy and learn from. Sadly, some teachers teach in a way that turns students away from learning what came before them, which is critically a bad thing. This generation needs to formulate a better understanding of the events that came before them and when history is taught in a way where the students can learn from past experiences, then the teacher has done their job.
David McCullough believes that history is an important topic to study and that not enough people take interest in the past. He studies the past because he takes an interest in the different ways that certain people act. When he researched the Johnstown flood he found humans to act irresponsibly, but when he researched the building of the Panama Canal he found that humans could work together to accomplish goals that appeared impossible. He also thought history was important to study because it was interesting to see the way that events could play out if certain small things had been changed. He participated in the writing of the book "What if?" that showed how certain aspects of history could have been different and how that would have affected the world we live in today. He also shows the way that history happens is important because people in history do not realize that what they are doing will be significant in the future. They made mistakes that should not be judged looking back because they did not know any better. He belives that Americans do not know enough about history because we focus too much on the future and where we are going rather than looking back to examine where we came from. I think that the interview with David McCullough was interesting because he had a lot of different viewpoints that were interesting. I did not look at certain things about studying history the way he did, like the way that differences in the past would cause changes in the present. I also liked that the topics that he wrote about were new to him. If he thought an event or person was interesting he would research it even if he knew nothing about it.
From the beginning of our education, teachers answered the common question from the more daring of students “Why do we study history?” with similar justifications. From first grade through middle school, they have smoothly told us that we become better citizens from the “great lessons” we learn from history. This is true, but David McCullough, a historian and writer, justifies his study of history with a much simpler reason - pleasure. It is a pleasure as the arts are a pleasure- making more knowledgeable and cultured people simply through the enjoyment of studying history. McCullough states that history is very instrumental in teaching lessons in proportions and this creates more knowledgeable people. The most effective way to understand proportions is to put oneself in the shoes of historical people. However, these people are not the ones in authority positions planning for greatness, but rather those who did not plan on being remembered. An understanding of such people makes the experience of history more genuine. You begin to understand their present and what they may have been expecting for the future. Triumphs and travesties are put into proportion on a larger scale than simply what one person has lived through. So perhaps are elementary teachers were correct when they told us we that study history to become better citizens. Here the word “better” should be clarified. We are not necessarily better citizens than those who lived before us, but rather we are better citizens than we would have been had we not studied history.
History can make one more sophisticated and history does teach one irreplaceable lessons... but that's not the number one reason McCullough feels historical happenings are significant. "Of course, I draw great pleasure from history," states David McCullough. "It's all well and good to say that we should know history because it makes us better citizens, and it does. And that there are great lessons in history, and there are. But histyr is also a source of immense pleausre in the way that music and art and the theater can be sources of great pleasure". Viewing this statement with McCullough's quote that "there isn't any such thing as the past", readers can begin to comprehend the vast, immediate joy and fascination that McCullough derives from his research, an interest that parallels to his wish to time travel. I quote: "I can't imagine anybody who wouldnn't want to be a time traveler in at least part of his life." To McCulough, history is immediate and vastly pertinent to the present. The man equates his work to a detective case--it's intruiging because the process of writing historical events down offers insight and inspiration on the way people during the era saw themselves as living in the 'present'--no different from our own fixation with our own daily routine and schedules. History is a book full of examples and of entertaining twists. Men rose to greatness out of their situations and their own character. By observing history, readers learn to empathize as well as gaining a bundle of dry data such as facts, figures, and dates.
What really had me thinking personally was McCullough's view of history as a plethora of 'present's. There is no fixed sequence. History should not be viewed in fixed sequence (at least not all the time). You don't study an era of prosperity knowing the impending doom of depression and war that's just around the corner. Instead, to truly immerse yourself in the time period, you view the era of prosperity as a time full of possibility and 'ifs'. So many things could have influenced the outcome. While it is a joy to know how events unfold, I feel that McCullough truly understands the beauty that is the speculation on the events that *could* have unfolded.
David McCullough believes that we should study history because it is very important. He thinks that there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from history and by studying history, we can learn from these lessons. Also, he believes that there is a lot of pleasure from history. That history can be a source of pleasure like entertainment today like music or movies. It seems like McCullough really enjoys history and feels like everyone should enjoy it too, so we should study history.
McCullough's interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. It was interesting hearing why McCullough wrote about some of his topics. For example, McCullough talked about how he wrote about the Johnstown flood, and then wrote about the brooklyn bridge. Also i enjoyed hearing how he would teach American history and how for one assignment it was just about one picture that led to a bigger topic. I also liked how he did not have the students compeat against other classmates, only against themselves.
According to McCullough we should study history for a number of reasons. Overall he believes there are great lessons in history about the human spirit, perseverance, and lessons we can use today. For example, the way he describes the Brooklyn Bridge shows what history is about. “It is this triumphant structure…rising up out of that distant time telling us what we can build…that are enduring.” Like the bridge, we can learn from the collective efforts of others, and by studying what came before us we can make something work and build more in the future. Another main reason McCullough brings up is that history is a progression of ideas, and that everything in history is intertwined. To McCullough, history is fascinating because of all the perspectives on one event, and you can come to your own interpretations and insight. You can be inspired through studying history. Lastly, McCullough brings up the important idea that the past isn’t the past, but is the future. We unknowingly judge the past, but through the study of history we can get a better idea of the circumstances surrounding past events. We should study history so that it’s interesting to us and that instead of turning away from it, we discover the knowledge on our own, and that’s what makes it fascinating. To me, I thought that this interview brought up some fascinating points. I thought the most interesting was his idea of America and the future. It’s true, America is always looking ahead because we want the future to be better than what we already have. Another thing that stuck out at me was his view on people. To McCullough, people are the most interesting of all, but, “everybody is a contradiction within himself. All of us are inconsistent, contradictory, and at times hypocritical.” This is why, in his interview, McCullough stresses how history is connected and progressive. History wasn’t built on a few great events or perfect people. The fact that McCullough warns of the differing viewpoints on history is what allows you to form your opinion. That is why I liked this interview, it didn’t tell you what you had to think, but rather encouraged you to discover knowledge on your own, and have imagination.
Last year, in U.S. History, our first assignment was a paper asking us why we should study history, and we couldn't say that people should study history, because it will help us from repeating the same mistakes in the past. David McCullough asks us the same question. He agrees that of course by study history we will become better citizens and there are many lessons that we can learn from it, but most importantly, he believes history should be studied, because it is a source of pleasure, just like music and art. He agrees that most people are denied the pleasure of history, because they weren't taught correctly. Teachers make history about memorizing dates and events, but really it is so much more than that. When McCullough was a teacher, he had an assignment where each student was given a photograph and had to analyze it by writing a paper. No answer was neither right nor wrong. At once his students became more interested in the topic, and I feel that when we do activities in class, such as that one, I actually end up learning more, because I really apply the information I already know.
Another thing I liked about this interview was that McCullough said by studying history we build a "capacity for empathy." This is true, because after learning about certain events like slavery or the Holocaust, we begin to feel for these people who we don't even know and who lived lifetimes before us.
According to David McCullough we study history for several reasons, from many different perspectives. From these perspectives, historians such as McCullough have noticed certain patterns for looking at the way people lived in the past. First and Foremost, McCullough talks about the idea that history can be looked at as one big story and that we as people should draw great pleasure from them. Through his various documentaries and articles, McCullough acknowledges that there are great shadows covering the stories of the past and that we should be drawn to those stories where the human spirit is victorious in the end. Secondly, McCullough states through his interview that historians need to have empathy for those that they are studying in the past. He says that we need to understand that the standards of living were much different back then and we shouldn’t judge what happened based on today’s standards. He says that we should put ourselves in their shoes and try to understand why they did what they did. If we look at it from their perspective we will realize that they were not “living in the past”, they were living for the moment, and they took action based what had worked in previous years and what hadn’t. They didn’t know that their actions would lead to the events of the future. Finally, McCullough states through his interview that we are raising a generation of young people who are historically illiterate to a large degree and who are too concerned with living for the future to pay attention to right now. He also says that teachers often make history boring by making it a memorization of dates and that history has much more to offer. Overall, I feel that David McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was designed to make people more aware of the importance of history in our everyday lives and to develop a new perspective to look at it from.
David McCullough believes we should study history for a few different reasons. The most prominent reason he proposes is that the study of history is extremely pleasurable. He compares this study to things such as art, music, and theater which he states can be immensely enjoyable. McCullough believes that we shouldn’t deny ourselves the pleasure of history, and we shouldn’t deny future generations of it either. He also says that knowing and understanding history makes us better citizens, and that there are great lessons to learn from history. McCullough also believes that there is no such thing as the past because the people of the time were living in the present. Therefore he believes that life was never simple, because the people in the past had many of their own challenges to face that were difficult to them.
I thought McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was really interesting. I found the part where he compared historians to umpires intriguing. He states that sometimes historians have to make close calls, but it really doesn’t matter if they make a mistake because there are always many other documents and accounts of the same events. I think that McCullough’s teaching style that he described is also very interesting. Instead of teaching about events or subjects he teaches about people. By learning about particular people his students were able to learn and understand subjects. This teaching method is different from most other forms of teaching and is a really interesting concept. McCullough’s way of studying history is extremely different than how many others look at it, and through his interview he conveys to us several different interesting ideas.
David McCullough stresses the importance of studying history in his interview with Roger Mudd. Throughout the interview McCullough expresses his feelings towards various past events. For example, commenintg on the Brooklyn Bridge McCullough states, "It is a triumphant structure, rising up out of those cities, rising up out of that distant time, telling us that we can build, we can do things that will have a long life, that are enduring." McCullough is pointing out that history is not only something you look back on as an experience to learn from, but an inspiration for the future. The Brooklyn Bridge and other human made structures are all inspiration for what we can do in the future and what we can accomplish. History is also a way to teach young people about who we how we got to where we are today. People always say, "children are the future" but if children arent tought about what is right and wrong, or mistakes made in the past, how can they know what to do to lead this country in the right direction? McCullough is trying to teach the importance of history through his book and show people how pleasurable it is to know about our past. History has shaped the way our country is today and has tought us so much about how we came to be one of the strongest nations in the world. Without history people wuld have little to no respect for our countries importance.
The reason we study history is a very vague question and has a multitude of responses. I feel that we study history for the same reason we study science, to understand why things are the way that they are and how we got to that point. History can be then interpreted as the science of humans. One should look at history from the perspective of the people during that time. As McCullough said the people that lived during that time did not treat it like the past, it was their present and to understand what and why things happened the way they did, one has to transport himself back to that time period. We can then use that understanding and apply that to our present and in predicting what could happen in the future. Another important point that McCullough makes is that history could have turned out a number of different ways. What actually happened was not pre-ordained by god or a supernatural force. If someone just knew the result of an event without understanding why it happened, they haven’t gained any historical insight. History is not an exact science and there is a lot of room for interpretation. Part of history is analyzing the what-if’s and trying to understand if the course taken was the best choice. Knowing why certain events did not happen is just as important then memorizing facts. McCullough also said not to look at the people as being naïve, which is a great point. It is easy for us to condemn plantation owners for slavery and Napoleon for being defeated at Waterloo; however we must analyze the facts before we condemn these people. We can only condemn these people because we know the result of their actions and why they failed. However, at the events happened, they had know idea how things would turn out, hindsight is only 20/20, meaning that they only see as far as their present. If we are to understand where these people erred, we must look at it from their perspective in that time-period. In the future people will most likely look back and ask why we want into Iraq and why we were so late in protecting the environment, however when we did these things, it was not as if we knew the result. History is basically the study of humans and their behavior. We look back and understand what happened, what didn’t, the what-if’s, why things happened and try to apply what we learn in our present. This happens because is in proportions and we must be able to rectify our mistakes so we are not doomed to repeat them.
According to David McCullough, history should be studied in order to convey “the nature of who we are and how we got to be where we are.” McCullough completely believes that one can gain understanding and happiness through the study of history. He explains that most teachers are not teaching history in the way that may be conveyed as a form of pleasure. He even goes so far as to say that the study of history is comparable to art, music and theater, in terms of pleasure. He believes that the educators of today are not teaching the subject competently, because they didn’t enjoy it themselves, while in school. He says that currently, we are “raising a generation of young people who are historically illiterate” because of the people who are “teaching” them. McCullough discusses the ineffectiveness of simply teaching students to simply memorize dates and events. He also stresses the importance of capacity for empathy and thinking in a “what if” mindset. According to McCullough, this is truly the way in which students will benefit and learn about their past. I found Roger Mudd’s interview with Mr. McCullough to be quite enjoyable. I liked how he said that he was drawn to stories and events in history “wherein the human spirit is victorious in the end.” I don’t really know exactly why this made me so happy, but I guess it might be because you don’t really think too much about that kind of thing when you’re in the classroom. I just liked how he is a professional that is so passionate about what he does, that he thoroughly enjoys events in history such as the building of the Panama canal, and other inspirational events. I guess it’s just different from what you would usually hear from someone who is educating you about history, and I liked that he was so passionate about his work.
The cover of this packet that contains the interview with David McCullough says it all. "Although he is one of the most distinguished historians working today, he recieved no formal training in the discipline..." That is amazing. I like history but certainly not enough to study it for a living after going to school for something else. McCullough studies it and writes about it because he is intrigued by it. His career in the field started with looking at pictures of the Johnstown Flood and moved to other topics from it. He even goes to say that he finds pleasure in studying history. So, from McCullough I have gathered that studying history can be pleasureable and because there are questions about it. Sounds reasonable. He also says that history can teach and that is a big reason to study it. The people living throughout history, says McCullough, were not living in the past but rather the present. THey made decisions in the moment and we, today can learn from that as we live in the present.
I enjoyed his interview with Roger Mudd. McCullough came out of the interview as a man interested in the subject. He studies it for the love of it, not solely because he is a historian. His topics have spanned numerous occurances and have covered many important people and places. Some of the facts he uncovered were just amazing. Very few people would know so much about to Teddy Roosevelt to know that he could read two books in one night, and cite them five years later. That takes dedication. This interview was very interesting.
David McCullough said that “History is mostly a lesson in proportions”. By this he meant that others have triumphed over much greater obstacles than we have and have done it in much worse conditions. This thought is imperative to the reason why we study history. We cannot learn and accomplish things in the present if we don’t at least know what are and were capable of. No improvements can be made if the source of error or success is unknown. Another point that McCullough makes is that “There isn’t any such thing as the past”. To the people who read about in textbooks and biographies their accomplishments were not accomplishments they were decisions they made to get from point A to be point B. They weren’t thinking (for the most part) “Gee I’ll do this so I look like an amazing person with superb leadership”. Things didn’t have to go that way but the decisions they made right in that moment caused them too. We often assume that people we are read about knew the end result of their actions but it was not so. One thing that I found to be very interesting about McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was his approach to learning about history. He talked about how it is necessary to have a degree of empathy for the people in history you are learning about. This is something I never really thought of before, but I realized actually makes sense of course you shouldn’t dismiss their actions but you have to realize they didn’t know the effects of what they were doing because they had not seen them yet!
David McCullough's quote "There isn't any such thing as the past" is essential to his view of why we study history. He believes that history is an important topic to study and that not enough people take interest in the past. He thinks that there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from history and by studying history, we can learn from these lessons. This quote means the people we read about in history books were not living in the past. What is the past to us, was the present to them. McCullough says that we can’t condemn people in the past for being naïve. They didn’t know any better at their time and we can’t blame them for that. He also says we should study history because it is a lesson in perspective. It is important that we have this perspective of past because people are often inclined say life was so much simpler back then. To them at the time it was just as complicated .When we think life is tough, we should think that everyone else in history has had it just as bad at some point. McCullough's interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. His perspective of how we should view the past was very refreshing. Also some of his topics sounded very interesting. How he approached writing them made them seem more fun to read.
Through the interview with David McCollough I learned that history is a lot more than just a bunch of facts and dates. He talked a lot about how the people living at the time were actual people just like us. Also at the time they didn’t have as much knowledge about what was going on as we do now looking back on it. Therefore we can not judge the decisions that they made because one day people will be doing that about us. There was no way for the people that we look back on to have as much awareness as we do or the consequences that came from their decisions. He also showed that everything in history was connected somehow. The decisions that McCoulough made about which topics to write about were based on where his previous books had led him. One topic would connect and lead him to a completely different topic which sparked an interest. It helped me think about how our lives today will connect to other events in the future. The last major point I learned from him was that there really is no past. To us it is the present which will eventually be history. We live day to day as our own lives, not with the intention of how it will be looked at years from now when people look back and study history of our time.
David McCullough was able to accurately sum up his thoughts on the study of history through his quote “There isn’t any such thing as the past.” One of McCullough’s most important points throughout the article is that history is the reason events, society, and people are the way they are today. Without the past we are nothing. This being said, the past is never really the past because it is always present in the time we are living and the future. What happens in the past and present creates what happens in the future. By learning of the past events, we are actually learning about today and the events that occur. It is crucial to learn about the struggles that people of the years before dealt with and how exactly they solved them. We can learn so much from what they did to solve a problem or did not do to solve a problem. By learning about mistakes others made, we can see what we need to fix today or should keep the same. By accepting this point of view held by McCullough, another important view comes into play, the importance of understanding the past’s events. One problem that McCullough feels today’s students present is that they do not understand history. “We have wonderful students today, maybe the best ever. But many of them have gotten to where they are because they’re very skilled at reading a teacher’s mind.” What McCullough presents through this quote is that students today need to discover history and not just be taught facts, people, numbers, and dates to spit back. They need to understand how important history is and create their own interest in the subject. McCullough seems to feel that each student will be able to realize their interest in history, just in their own way and time as long as the teacher allows and provides the first little push. Much of what McCullough presents during his interview with Mudd are views that I agree with. When McCullough states that history is something that needs to seen as part of the present, I fully agree. McCullough describes his experience in his college seminar class and talks about the essay topic he presented to his students as a term paper. His views on why he approached the topic and term paper the way he did I feel are very eye opening. It makes you realize that history really is something to be discovered on your own and to fully understand your life and how history relates to it, you must appreciate what you are learning.
David McCullough promotes several reasons for the study of history, these include, for pleasure, understanding of the present based on the past, and acknowledging what happened. History is what shapes us, it is the foundation upon which the present is built upon, and on which the future will be directed from. By understanding history itself, one can better understand themselves, and their actions now and for times to come.
His interview with Roger Mudd was particularly interesting in that he investigated points uncommon to the ears. He acknowledges infamous historical figures on the base of empathy. Historian may not necessarily agree with these figures, but it is vital for them to understand what really happened to/around/and from the person. He seems to find “uninteresting topics” rather interesting, and states things that glorifies them and shows us how he found diamonds in a pile of rocks. His insight, dedication and understanding of these historical figures truly encompasses the true nature of historical studies.
“There isn’t any such thing as the Past” by David McCullough offers an insight on the study of history. In this David McCullough talks about history as a story or a tale. He views history as pleasure like movies, TV, art, and poetry. McCullough not only views History as a pleasure but also as a lesson. We study history to learn about the past and the lives of the people. McCullough wrote about Teddy Roosevelt and his life. From this biography we learn about his reading habits and his insane memory. History tells us about the past not only the glory but the mistakes. Our parents always told us to learn from our mistakes and move forward. History is much like that, History looks at human interaction from the past and from it we can either embrace it as lessons and move forward or disregard it and move backwards.
I thought the interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. I found the teaching methods of David McCullough very interesting. McCullough hands his students each a different pictures and has them write a paper on the picture. Each picture is different from each other so the students have no way to compare or compete with each other. This teaching style is very different from the other teachers. McCullough is a very interesting person and I hope to read his history works in the near future
While reading the interview with David McCullough, I was presented with a multitude of fascinating incites into why he considered the study of history to be important. I was most surprised to find that some of the reasons that he presented were ones that I had had all along but had not been able to identify. His main thesis on the reasons why we study history was as follows, “we should not only know history because it makes us better citizens and there are great lessons to be learned from it, but history is also a source of great pleasure. This revolutionary paradigm shit recognizes the reading and study of history as no longer a strenuous and unnecessary task but instead an enjoyable activity to do in your free time. He supports this argument in a rather genius way saying that the reason that most Americans do not derive pleasure from history as he does is because the way that it is presented in school and so on. One of the most important quotes states “But if;s a matter of dates and memorization of obscure provisos and ancient societies, if it's made boring, if it's mad dull, how can you blame anyone for turning away from it?” I feel that this quote sums up why he feels that people do not have the passion for history that they should. On that note I agree with his reasons to study history and can only hope that the teaching of history becomes more interesting so more people can enjoy it.
David McCullough's idea of there isn't such thing as the past relates specifically to the people he talks about in history. He explains that people in history did not go about their daily lives knowing that the events they are living will be known as the past. I myself believe the same thing. After I submit this blog, it will be a thing of the past, but as I'm writing my response it technically is the present. This is the point McCullough is trying to get across, that when these people were living, was during their present time. The past to them only exsisted after their era had died. On a different note, George Orwell speaks of the same thing that McCullough talks about in his book 1984. "Who controls the past controls the future...Who controls the present controls the past" Two very similar things to McCullough's idea of the present being the past. The views are a really interesting take on how to view history. I never really thought of looking at it that way. Another thing that McCullough likes so much is that history is the ultimate story. He believes that moral lessons are learned by reviewing past events in the world Just like the Johnstown flood he speaks of. He is very much correct on this idea. A lot can be learned from past mistakes.This is where knowing about the past comes in handy so humans don't keep repeating these mistakes over and over again.
We study history, according to McCullough, so that one understands what people felt during that time and being able to relate to that feeling. As David McCullough says one studies history not just for the discovery but also the enjoyment of just learning what happened. In addition, one does not study history through the viewpoint of just one historian but a wide variety of them including one's self. The reason for this is that if one looks only at one view, one cannot really empathize with the society they are studying. As in this interview, McCullough expressed his views that people should not treat studying history as to study the past because "people in the story didn't live in the past." As goes for the rest of the interview, I found it extremely intriguing that this historian was able to relate to so many different events together. Moreover, I liked the fact that he really wants students to be excited about history and not treat it as just another boring class. Lastly, I like the fact that he did write those books to other historians but rather to the public. Of which he sincerely wants the reader to feel what it was like living during "past" and experience and empathize with its people.
According to McCullough, we study history because it was not history to those who lived it, as what we live is not history to us, but will be to future generations. This is the most important reason to study history, because those who McCullough writes about are not people who wake up saying “I am going to make history today,” they wake up and go do their job, which happens to be doing something amazing, not so they can be written in history. Another reason to study history is to understand why certain events occurred the way they did. In hindsight events may seem stupid or shortsighted, but at the time they made a lot of sense. Also to try and understand why people throughout history acted as they did. It is not to try and sympathize with them, merely to attempt to understand what their maniacal minds were thinking.
This interview with McCullough was very interesting, in that it made me look at history in a new way. I also agreed with a lot of things he said, for example that when history is made to be memorizing dates and events it is boring, but when one is made to understand why it becomes so much more interesting. I also enjoyed learning how he figured out who to write about, and how everything he writes is connected. It was incredibly interesting to learn why each of the topics he wrote about where written about, and what caused him to learn about each of his topics and find it interesting.
“I think people are the most interesting subject of all, and I am thoroughly interested in those people who went before us.” David McCullough has a different view of history than the majority of people who take a history course. He sees it not as a static entity; not a place where the events that occurred were on a linear track that forced them to be that way. The Germans could have won World War I, America could have lost the Revolution. He views history as a being whose course was shaped not be men who looked forward to their names being remembered for all generations, but by men who stood up for what they believed and devoted their lives to the hope that they could do what was best. This view has given McCullough a reason to study history other than the need to know what came before; he says that we should study it because it is living and it is interesting. The Inquisition was certainly an important event in the history of the world, but McCullough would state that we should read about it because it shows how humans have progressed. The reason we study history is to learn the mindset of the people who lived in their present. As he puts it, “They didn't walk around and say, 'Oh, isn't this fascinating, living in this great old time?'” History was never history to those who lived it, and by studying history we can step into the lives of our past human brethren to learn how their present is different from our present. I think it's a wonderful article and, in all honesty, I hope to see more from him. His words are both elegant and chilling because of their exact truths. It's one of the best articles I've read about history yet.
There are many reasons as to why one studies history. I believe one studies history to learn from the past, to study the many different things, such as inventions, and how they set the foundations to the technological success that the world enjoys today for example. Every professor that teaches a subject regarding history, always seems to ask as to “why one should study history?” Some say, to learn from our mistakes or to derive lessons, while others may say to study as well as analyze various historical personalities that impact mankind today in many ways. All of this is indeed the truth however according to modern day writer and historian, David McCullough; we study history to obtain pleasure, similar to music, theater, or art. McCullough, regards his works enjoyable and has a great amount of joy when it comes to learning new topics regarding history as well as other subjects in general. Furthermore, McCullough believes that one can learn from the various lessons that history teaches which can then create a better future for us, through fully understanding such lessons. According to McCullough one should view history by the perspective of the people during that time frame. As McCullough said, people living during that time did not treat the era like we view history today, instead it was their present and to fully comprehend why events occurred the way they had, one has to go back in time and analyze the era themselves. One can then use the gained knowledge as well as understanding and relate it to our present as well as making the prediction of what could possibly occur in the future to come. McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was extremely interesting. McCullough’s various methods of teaching history were quiet different compared to the typical style historical scholars would use to teach pupils. Instead of having students memorize facts and dates, McCullough gave interesting assignments like the term paper that he had given at a university he taught. He assigned each student a photograph, who had to analyze as well as write a paper about it. The assignment caused students to compete against themselves instead of other students taking the exam as well. McCullough developed such ways in which he believed that this is truly the way one should learn history and truly comprehend the meaning behind various historical events. I believe that McCullough’s teaching methods were extremely different and more interesting versus the typical ways a history professor would teach. McCullough wanted his students to enjoy history and discover pleasure in studying history the way one would find pleasure in entertainment such as art and music.
David McCullough says that we should learn history for various reasons. One of them that he states is that most people only look to the future, and there would be no future if there was no past. And with uncovering things from the past you realize that many things would not have happened if it were not to related events. For example the american revolutionary war would not have happened if it were not for Frances support. In the past we should be proud of the accomplishments that Americans have done. For example The Brooklyn bridge,and the solution to the pana canal. through Davids research we learn about Roosevelt and how he wanted to get into a lot of wars because his father let him down in that aspect by paying someone to take his place in the civil war. We can learn so much about ourselves if we learn about all the accomplishments, disasters and structures we have done, overcame and created. I found this interview quite interesting to read. It was very conversational and easy to understand. I also find it cool that he could go into the library of congress look at some pictures, wonder what those pictures are, research them and then write a book on it. The topics that he has written about i find similar as to what i enjoy learning about. Through reading this one article i have learned a lot and wasnt expecting to find out unusual facts such as Roosevelt wanting to be involved with war becuase he was dissappointed with his father, or how he could read two books a night, and how the brooklyn bridge was designed by a german. All these things although they maybe insignifigant i find quite interesting.
David MCCullough is a very intellectual and inquisitive man. He has studied history for an extremely long time and thus has developed a passion and knowledge of history as a whole unmatched by most. He gives many reasons for studying history but he seems to stress the fact that we should study history because it is a source of great pleasure. Another reason he believes that history should be studied is because of his statement that "people are the most interesting subject of all, and" he is "thoroughly interested in those people who went before us." Based on his interview with Roger Mudd many thoughts have crossed my mind. I really enjoyed the quote "There isn't any such thing as the past." I never thought of history this way but I truly believe that this statement is correct. McCullough explains this quote by saying that at the time when events occurred it was the present, therefore there really is no history. I also like his general idea that the study of history provides easy movement between eras and events. Which provides and easy explanation to why all of his pieces are from different time periods in history. His easy movement from the Johnstown flood to Roosevelt to Truman is remarkable to mein in its ability to show the progression of history. His thoughts on empathy are also particularyly interesting. He shows that after learning about the struggles of people in historywe learn to walk in their shoes and what ismust have felt like to be them at the time of the historical events. All in all, David McCullough is quite an intellectual individual. His thoughts on history as a whole are quite intriguing and provide a whole new perspective on how to look at history as well as why one should look at history.
I believe that McCullough is trying to get us to better understand history. I think that McCullough really loves history and he wants us as students to learn more about it. He wants us to realize that history is not meant to be boring. History is real thinks done by real people and it has merit in our world today as we know it. History is not a series of numbers and it isn’t sequential, but history builds on itself and is very interesting if it is taught the right way. McCullough believes that it is important to look at history from many different points of view. Everything in history is recorded by many different sides. Every side has their own point of view. I believe that McCullough is trying to get us to realize how interesting history is. He wants us to see the stories behind the boring dates that history might be.
David McCullough is an avid student of history, and he believes that all people should share hiss passion because history is a fascinating subject that can be learned from and built upon, and also to help people currently living to understand the lives of people who came before them. “There isn’t any such a thing as the past.” This is Mr. McCullough’s view of the world. The past that people living today believe in was not the past when the people in that time period were living, and it is not acceptable to say that people who came before you lived in “simpler times” because that was their modern time. He believes that the past is a very useful instrument for teaching lessons to future generations and creates better rounded and more knowledgeable people. McCullough believes that the best way to understand proportions and the way that people used to live is to put oneself in the shoes of people who lives predated our own. Although McCullough does have a passion for history, when asked, he said that he would not like to live in the past, but he would enjoy a visit for a couple of days. This short visit would enable him to better understand lives of people who lives years ago, but it would also allow him to come back and not only share his knowledge, but to enjoy the advancements that are being made in this era. One of McCullough’s ideas was to learn from the people in history who wrote or acted the way they did because of the society the lived in, and not because they planned on being remembered for years to come. McCullough also believes that the instructor has a great influence over the mindset of children concerning history. If the instructor has the students memorize a bunch of dates and names, history is no longer fun, which hinders the young minds form wanting to pursue history as a topic of study. I believe that McCullough is a very enlightened individual, who even through his lack of education, has managed to excel in his chosen field of study. He is very knowledgeable of the needs and interests of students today, perhaps because he is still learning himself. The interesting topics and the format of his class projects inspire the students to learn on their own and in a way that they will never forget.
David McCullough if presented this question might himself pose the similar yet opposite question-well, why not study history? It is through history that a person may inquire about how a nation has in the past undergone evolutionary changes that have helped fabricate the very framework by which that very nation stands. Without history or the study of it, we are only people severed from the very past that would be the basis for our future. Should a child live, and not know what womb he or she had come from, or should a masterpiece have no creator? As David McCullough puts it, “Why cut ourselves off from that larger experience of all those who went before us.” Because in history lies so many lessons that could be learned by those who come after it. From the building of the Panama Canal, one can learn that the solution to a problem can be derived not necessarily only in one’s perspicacity but in the problem itself. And as McCullough states how the U.S. and France lost a combined 25,000 people, we can also learn about the struggle that many people went through in order to contribute to the amelioration of the world economy and commerce. In other words, “our predecessors…rose to greatness and did things of which we are the beneficiaries.” One of the things that McCullough said in his interview that struck me was how he implied that history is only boring if it is made boring. If history is made a perfunctory subject that one memorized dates and facts, then it will remain insipid. But if you approach history as something that holds many lessons from which you can learn, or as a myriad of people who have each in some way contributed to what the world is today. Only then will history become interesting.
David McCullough makes many points in his assessment of why we should study history. One major thing that he gets across is that history is more than just a sequence of events whereupon something happens, then something else happens, then something else happens. History is a collective series of events where many things happen at the same time. Futhermore, he states that no one time was easier than another because every time period had its own problems and conflicts to deal with. For example, he mentioned how we questioned why decent Christian people owned slaves. However, some day in the future people are going to wonder about why people do what they do, and the answer is because this is how we solve problems. Finally, he believes that we should study history in order to understand why people triumphed and why people failed. By learning this, we can perhaps repeat our successes and learn from the past what works and what does not.
I thought that the interview with McCullough was very interesting. He brought about new perspectives of why to study history that I have never thought of before. Also, he puzzled me at times when he talked about his books, because they weren't of very popular events and people, but rather somewhat popular and that most people have probably forgotten about.
David McCullough discussed various reasons to study history. One of them is simply because it is enjoyable. If one enjoys music, they will listen to music. This is why we should study history if we enjoy it. Not only is it a source of pleasure but learning history can prevent America from making the same mistakes that we made in the past. McCullough believes that learning history will make us better citizens. One of my favorite parts of the reading was when he declared, “There isn't any such thing as the past”. Harry Truman did not wake up every day thinking that he lived in the past. He simply lived in the present just as we do. It is fascinating to understand that Truman did not know how America was going to end up. If he had different policies, America would be different today. By comprehending history, one can understand themselves to a greater extent.
I learned a lot from David McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd. I was intrigued by the term paper that McCullough gave his students at Cornell. Each student received a photograph, and they had to write a paper based on the photograph. It is interesting how history is connected. From one photograph you can end up learning a whole century of history.
David McCullough approaches history as a writer and storyteller and delights in studying people. He believes that history should be a study of proportions and putting things in perspective. He says that the challenges we face today are nothing compared to the obstacles that those before us have faced. McCollough is very optimistic and excited with the idea that the “human spirit” has emerged victorious over many challenges. He reaches out to the human aspects of historic figures and emphasizes that we put ourselves in their shoes. McCollough urges us to think of history as the ongoing story where we recognize all the human characters and their actions as if their time contained the uncertainty of our present. He also reminds us that history could have gone in many different directions, there was never set pattern in which events had to follow. He also mentions the great men/women of history such as Jefferson, and notes that we should recognize them as great but by no means perfect. The story of history and its characters must always be taught in an appealing way, not dull memorization, in order to keep the attention of today’s generations who have a tendency to always look towards the future. Essentially, he believes that the discovery and excitement in exploring history should draw students in and get them enthralled about the “past”—a term that he does not condone. I admire and am impressed with McCollough and his perspective on history. I’ve always felt that learning history is easier and more of a fun experience if you think of it as a story and appreciate the motivations, causes, and effects along the way. I found it particularly interesting that he made a point of the critical and contemptuous way we view slavery today and then commented that future generations will probably condemn us for an irresponsible mindset, possibly the way we treat the environment.
McCullough says that we study history not only because it makes us better citizens, but because it is extremely enjoyable. It is an exhilarating experience to learn about the great stories and it is awe-inspiring to discover the great accomplishments in history. He points out that it is amazing how much people such as the Founding Father accomplished, or Botticelli, or the architects of the Golden Gate Bridge. I think McCullough makes an excellent point here. In class, we learn about the facts and the events of history without stopping, often times, to consider how remarkable those events are. We have to put ourselves in those people’s shoes or look at those events in context in order to truly appreciate them.
I also think that McCullough makes an excellent point when he says that we should never consider those in the past naïve. I had never thought about this much before, but it is true that we tend to look back on those people and judge them unfairly. McCullough is right that we should not do this because what they did was just normal then, during the period they lived in, during their “present.”
I found that the way that McCullough teaches—giving photographs to each student—to be extremely interesting. I completely agree with him that studying history is not about memorizing what happens and when because that is boring and tedious; in fact, I used to not like history for exactly this reason. I think McCullough’s method is an ideal way to teach because then students can learn about the exciting things beyond just the facts and timelines. It is unfortunate that such a thing, without objective textbook learning, would be impractical in high school history classes because the huge range of material that needs to be covered makes studying every figure in such depth not practical.
It is important to study history for many reasons. First off, when taking a look back at history, historians and politicians and economists alike can pinpoint certain events and actions and study how they impacted the people of that time. They can use that information to introduce policies that pleased people in the past, and avoid those decisions frowned upon by previous generations. History must always be looked at from a different point of view also, to avoid a biased stance. Mr. McCollough also stresses that we can not view the past as a time that has passd and was more primitive than ours. The people living in that time did not think of themselves as primitive, and had no reason to belive so. Innovations and discoviries made in the past can not be viewed as insignificant either, for they occurred in the present time of a previous generation. History, when taught correctly, can be a fun and satisfying experience for those learning it. When the past is placed in perspective, the people being taught can greater appreciate what the people in the past experienced. People need to study the past in order to plot a proper course for the future, it is an essential piece of information regarding how we have ended up in the situation we are in today. No matter what we read or who we read it from, there is always the possibility of a bias, and that we, as the reader, and the srudent must be extremely careful in conseidering.
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David McCullough's quote "There isn't any such thing as the past" is essential to his view of why we study history. This quote means the people we read about in history books were not living in the past. To them it was just everyday life, they lived in their own present. McCullough believes there is no way to see the light in life without the shadow. The shadow is the past and the light is the present. The past tells a great story. He also thinks history can be a source of pleasure like music and art. Future generations shouldn't be denied pleasure that is created from history. He says we should study history because it is a lesson in proportions. Every time we think life is tough it is important to remember someone else had it worse. Younger generations are not superior to older ones. It is important to put the past in perspective because we often say life was so much simpler back then. The thing to remember is that it wasn't simple to them. They were faced with just as many challenges. The reason we forget about the past is that we are interested in the future. People need to study history so that they can realize there would be no future without the past.
There were a several other things in this interview that I found interesting. I liked McCullough's realization that older generations come up with a plan for future generations to carry out. He used the example of the Brooklyn Bridge where John Roebling designed the bridge, but his son had to build it. Also, the founders of our country created a plan for our nation and left it up for their future generations to build the nation. The other great part of the interview was when McCullough compared historians to umpires. He said they were the same as umpires who had to make close calls at home plate. Historians don't always make the right calls, but they do research very hard to try to make the right decisions. This represents the fact that some of our history textbooks may be biased.
David McCullough suggests that we should study history for many reasons. Most importantly, he views history as a source of pleasure, similar to art, music, and theater. He does not believe we should deny ourselves, or future generations, this pleasure. He considers his research joyful and has an immense amount of fun learning new things. He also believes that history makes us better citizens. He believes that we can learn from the lessons of history and make a better future for ourselves from these lessons.
I thought that McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. I was intrigued by the term paper that McCullough gave his students at Cornell University. He gave each of them a photograph, and the assignment was to write a paper derived from the photograph. No two photographs were the same, so the students were not competing with each other. McCullough believes that this is the way we should learn history and it was the essence of the American history course. One example of a paper was about a photograph of Sergeant York, and through researching Sergeant York, the student learned about all of World War I. I was fascinated by this style of learning and am curious to see if we could do a similar paper.
"There isn't any such thing as the past" is one of the main reasons that David McCullough believes that history is the toughest and most interesting subject to study. By studying history, one doesn't just learn about what happened to others, they can also learn about themselves. David McCullough stresses that knowing history makes people better citizens. History is one of the toughest subjects to study because different events and people's actions could be interpreted wrong. But at the same time, historians always have their own ideas of what happened during a certain time period, so making a mistake isn’t as devastating as making a mistake in say, math. Studying history doesn’t just mean that you’re learning about the people of the past, and that they don’t have any affect on your life. The people that we learn about in history didn’t see themselves as living in the past. They also didn’t do the things that they did because they thought we would enjoy learning about it. These people that we learn about in history were just living in the present and living their lives. Just like them, soon out lives will become the history that is studied in school and from books.
History is a very hard subject because it is very hard to teach to someone that what had happened didn’t have to happen the way it did. The people of the past made certain decisions, which now affect us today. The events that we study could have happened in many other ways. Usually though, history isn’t taught like that. History is normally taught as a sequence of event, which can be rather dull. Studying history can be a source of entertainment if it is taught the right way. Studying history also isn’t just an educational lesson. Morality lessons can be taught through learning about past events and people. Learning about historic events can also be a very motivating force, at least to us Americans. David McCullough talks about how people have always been mostly interested in the future. This is because they were always told that the future will be better. Studying history is very important because its like a discovery and an adventure.
David McCullough described how we as people in the present can learn from the stories of victories or mistakes that people have made in the past, and I agree with him. He seems to take Theodore Roosevelt as an example for someone to learn from. He wrote a book detailing Teddy’s life and he was fascinated by the way he was able to read two books in a night and quote them five years later. Even though McCullough thought he was a genius, others today would probably think he was a lunatic. The readers can learn from these accounts that McCullough has observed and use it for their own knowledge and make their own assumption about how people, such as Teddy Roosevelt, can be. This also comes into play when McCullough was researching the Brooklyn Bridge. He wanted to show people a story of true American heroism and how if a person is motivated enough and believes they can make history, they can do so.
McCullough also wants people to know history because he believes that you have to understand how things worked before the present and have a better appreciation for the present era. He states later on in the article about there was no simple time in the past. It seemed hard for them, even though now things have changed into a more complex world than it was before. Those in the past endured more than we ever could with the way this generation has been brought up. History is not some string of chronological events that one has to memorize. It is a series of stories that one can enjoy and learn from. Sadly, some teachers teach in a way that turns students away from learning what came before them, which is critically a bad thing. This generation needs to formulate a better understanding of the events that came before them and when history is taught in a way where the students can learn from past experiences, then the teacher has done their job.
David McCullough believes that history is an important topic to study and that not enough people take interest in the past. He studies the past because he takes an interest in the different ways that certain people act. When he researched the Johnstown flood he found humans to act irresponsibly, but when he researched the building of the Panama Canal he found that humans could work together to accomplish goals that appeared impossible. He also thought history was important to study because it was interesting to see the way that events could play out if certain small things had been changed. He participated in the writing of the book "What if?" that showed how certain aspects of history could have been different and how that would have affected the world we live in today. He also shows the way that history happens is important because people in history do not realize that what they are doing will be significant in the future. They made mistakes that should not be judged looking back because they did not know any better. He belives that Americans do not know enough about history because we focus too much on the future and where we are going rather than looking back to examine where we came from.
I think that the interview with David McCullough was interesting because he had a lot of different viewpoints that were interesting. I did not look at certain things about studying history the way he did, like the way that differences in the past would cause changes in the present. I also liked that the topics that he wrote about were new to him. If he thought an event or person was interesting he would research it even if he knew nothing about it.
From the beginning of our education, teachers answered the common question from the more daring of students “Why do we study history?” with similar justifications. From first grade through middle school, they have smoothly told us that we become better citizens from the “great lessons” we learn from history. This is true, but David McCullough, a historian and writer, justifies his study of history with a much simpler reason - pleasure. It is a pleasure as the arts are a pleasure- making more knowledgeable and cultured people simply through the enjoyment of studying history.
McCullough states that history is very instrumental in teaching lessons in proportions and this creates more knowledgeable people. The most effective way to understand proportions is to put oneself in the shoes of historical people. However, these people are not the ones in authority positions planning for greatness, but rather those who did not plan on being remembered. An understanding of such people makes the experience of history more genuine. You begin to understand their present and what they may have been expecting for the future. Triumphs and travesties are put into proportion on a larger scale than simply what one person has lived through.
So perhaps are elementary teachers were correct when they told us we that study history to become better citizens. Here the word “better” should be clarified. We are not necessarily better citizens than those who lived before us, but rather we are better citizens than we would have been had we not studied history.
History can make one more sophisticated and history does teach one irreplaceable lessons... but that's not the number one reason McCullough feels historical happenings are significant. "Of course, I draw great pleasure from history," states David McCullough. "It's all well and good to say that we should know history because it makes us better citizens, and it does. And that there are great lessons in history, and there are. But histyr is also a source of immense pleausre in the way that music and art and the theater can be sources of great pleasure". Viewing this statement with McCullough's quote that "there isn't any such thing as the past", readers can begin to comprehend the vast, immediate joy and fascination that McCullough derives from his research, an interest that parallels to his wish to time travel. I quote: "I can't imagine anybody who wouldnn't want to be a time traveler in at least part of his life." To McCulough, history is immediate and vastly pertinent to the present. The man equates his work to a detective case--it's intruiging because the process of writing historical events down offers insight and inspiration on the way people during the era saw themselves as living in the 'present'--no different from our own fixation with our own daily routine and schedules. History is a book full of examples and of entertaining twists. Men rose to greatness out of their situations and their own character. By observing history, readers learn to empathize as well as gaining a bundle of dry data such as facts, figures, and dates.
What really had me thinking personally was McCullough's view of history as a plethora of 'present's. There is no fixed sequence. History should not be viewed in fixed sequence (at least not all the time). You don't study an era of prosperity knowing the impending doom of depression and war that's just around the corner. Instead, to truly immerse yourself in the time period, you view the era of prosperity as a time full of possibility and 'ifs'. So many things could have influenced the outcome. While it is a joy to know how events unfold, I feel that McCullough truly understands the beauty that is the speculation on the events that *could* have unfolded.
David McCullough believes that we should study history because it is very important. He thinks that there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from history and by studying history, we can learn from these lessons. Also, he believes that there is a lot of pleasure from history. That history can be a source of pleasure like entertainment today like music or movies. It seems like McCullough really enjoys history and feels like everyone should enjoy it too, so we should study history.
McCullough's interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. It was interesting hearing why McCullough wrote about some of his topics. For example, McCullough talked about how he wrote about the Johnstown flood, and then wrote about the brooklyn bridge. Also i enjoyed hearing how he would teach American history and how for one assignment it was just about one picture that led to a bigger topic. I also liked how he did not have the students compeat against other classmates, only against themselves.
According to McCullough we should study history for a number of reasons. Overall he believes there are great lessons in history about the human spirit, perseverance, and lessons we can use today. For example, the way he describes the Brooklyn Bridge shows what history is about. “It is this triumphant structure…rising up out of that distant time telling us what we can build…that are enduring.” Like the bridge, we can learn from the collective efforts of others, and by studying what came before us we can make something work and build more in the future. Another main reason McCullough brings up is that history is a progression of ideas, and that everything in history is intertwined. To McCullough, history is fascinating because of all the perspectives on one event, and you can come to your own interpretations and insight. You can be inspired through studying history. Lastly, McCullough brings up the important idea that the past isn’t the past, but is the future. We unknowingly judge the past, but through the study of history we can get a better idea of the circumstances surrounding past events. We should study history so that it’s interesting to us and that instead of turning away from it, we discover the knowledge on our own, and that’s what makes it fascinating.
To me, I thought that this interview brought up some fascinating points. I thought the most interesting was his idea of America and the future. It’s true, America is always looking ahead because we want the future to be better than what we already have. Another thing that stuck out at me was his view on people. To McCullough, people are the most interesting of all, but, “everybody is a contradiction within himself. All of us are inconsistent, contradictory, and at times hypocritical.” This is why, in his interview, McCullough stresses how history is connected and progressive. History wasn’t built on a few great events or perfect people. The fact that McCullough warns of the differing viewpoints on history is what allows you to form your opinion. That is why I liked this interview, it didn’t tell you what you had to think, but rather encouraged you to discover knowledge on your own, and have imagination.
Last year, in U.S. History, our first assignment was a paper asking us why we should study history, and we couldn't say that people should study history, because it will help us from repeating the same mistakes in the past. David McCullough asks us the same question. He agrees that of course by study history we will become better citizens and there are many lessons that we can learn from it, but most importantly, he believes history should be studied, because it is a source of pleasure, just like music and art. He agrees that most people are denied the pleasure of history, because they weren't taught correctly. Teachers make history about memorizing dates and events, but really it is so much more than that. When McCullough was a teacher, he had an assignment where each student was given a photograph and had to analyze it by writing a paper. No answer was neither right nor wrong. At once his students became more interested in the topic, and I feel that when we do activities in class, such as that one, I actually end up learning more, because I really apply the information I already know.
Another thing I liked about this interview was that McCullough said by studying history we build a "capacity for empathy." This is true, because after learning about certain events like slavery or the Holocaust, we begin to feel for these people who we don't even know and who lived lifetimes before us.
According to David McCullough we study history for several reasons, from many different perspectives. From these perspectives, historians such as McCullough have noticed certain patterns for looking at the way people lived in the past. First and Foremost, McCullough talks about the idea that history can be looked at as one big story and that we as people should draw great pleasure from them. Through his various documentaries and articles, McCullough acknowledges that there are great shadows covering the stories of the past and that we should be drawn to those stories where the human spirit is victorious in the end. Secondly, McCullough states through his interview that historians need to have empathy for those that they are studying in the past. He says that we need to understand that the standards of living were much different back then and we shouldn’t judge what happened based on today’s standards. He says that we should put ourselves in their shoes and try to understand why they did what they did. If we look at it from their perspective we will realize that they were not “living in the past”, they were living for the moment, and they took action based what had worked in previous years and what hadn’t. They didn’t know that their actions would lead to the events of the future. Finally, McCullough states through his interview that we are raising a generation of young people who are historically illiterate to a large degree and who are too concerned with living for the future to pay attention to right now. He also says that teachers often make history boring by making it a memorization of dates and that history has much more to offer. Overall, I feel that David McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was designed to make people more aware of the importance of history in our everyday lives and to develop a new perspective to look at it from.
David McCullough believes we should study history for a few different reasons. The most prominent reason he proposes is that the study of history is extremely pleasurable. He compares this study to things such as art, music, and theater which he states can be immensely enjoyable. McCullough believes that we shouldn’t deny ourselves the pleasure of history, and we shouldn’t deny future generations of it either. He also says that knowing and understanding history makes us better citizens, and that there are great lessons to learn from history. McCullough also believes that there is no such thing as the past because the people of the time were living in the present. Therefore he believes that life was never simple, because the people in the past had many of their own challenges to face that were difficult to them.
I thought McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was really interesting. I found the part where he compared historians to umpires intriguing. He states that sometimes historians have to make close calls, but it really doesn’t matter if they make a mistake because there are always many other documents and accounts of the same events. I think that McCullough’s teaching style that he described is also very interesting. Instead of teaching about events or subjects he teaches about people. By learning about particular people his students were able to learn and understand subjects. This teaching method is different from most other forms of teaching and is a really interesting concept. McCullough’s way of studying history is extremely different than how many others look at it, and through his interview he conveys to us several different interesting ideas.
David McCullough stresses the importance of studying history in his interview with Roger Mudd. Throughout the interview McCullough expresses his feelings towards various past events. For example, commenintg on the Brooklyn Bridge McCullough states, "It is a triumphant structure, rising up out of those cities, rising up out of that distant time, telling us that we can build, we can do things that will have a long life, that are enduring." McCullough is pointing out that history is not only something you look back on as an experience to learn from, but an inspiration for the future. The Brooklyn Bridge and other human made structures are all inspiration for what we can do in the future and what we can accomplish.
History is also a way to teach young people about who we how we got to where we are today. People always say, "children are the future" but if children arent tought about what is right and wrong, or mistakes made in the past, how can they know what to do to lead this country in the right direction?
McCullough is trying to teach the importance of history through his book and show people how pleasurable it is to know about our past. History has shaped the way our country is today and has tought us so much about how we came to be one of the strongest nations in the world. Without history people wuld have little to no respect for our countries importance.
The reason we study history is a very vague question and has a multitude of responses. I feel that we study history for the same reason we study science, to understand why things are the way that they are and how we got to that point. History can be then interpreted as the science of humans.
One should look at history from the perspective of the people during that time. As McCullough said the people that lived during that time did not treat it like the past, it was their present and to understand what and why things happened the way they did, one has to transport himself back to that time period. We can then use that understanding and apply that to our present and in predicting what could happen in the future.
Another important point that McCullough makes is that history could have turned out a number of different ways. What actually happened was not pre-ordained by god or a supernatural force. If someone just knew the result of an event without understanding why it happened, they haven’t gained any historical insight. History is not an exact science and there is a lot of room for interpretation. Part of history is analyzing the what-if’s and trying to understand if the course taken was the best choice. Knowing why certain events did not happen is just as important then memorizing facts.
McCullough also said not to look at the people as being naïve, which is a great point. It is easy for us to condemn plantation owners for slavery and Napoleon for being defeated at Waterloo; however we must analyze the facts before we condemn these people. We can only condemn these people because we know the result of their actions and why they failed. However, at the events happened, they had know idea how things would turn out, hindsight is only 20/20, meaning that they only see as far as their present. If we are to understand where these people erred, we must look at it from their perspective in that time-period. In the future people will most likely look back and ask why we want into Iraq and why we were so late in protecting the environment, however when we did these things, it was not as if we knew the result. History is basically the study of humans and their behavior. We look back and understand what happened, what didn’t, the what-if’s, why things happened and try to apply what we learn in our present. This happens because is in proportions and we must be able to rectify our mistakes so we are not doomed to repeat them.
According to David McCullough, history should be studied in order to convey “the nature of who we are and how we got to be where we are.” McCullough completely believes that one can gain understanding and happiness through the study of history. He explains that most teachers are not teaching history in the way that may be conveyed as a form of pleasure. He even goes so far as to say that the study of history is comparable to art, music and theater, in terms of pleasure. He believes that the educators of today are not teaching the subject competently, because they didn’t enjoy it themselves, while in school. He says that currently, we are “raising a generation of young people who are historically illiterate” because of the people who are “teaching” them. McCullough discusses the ineffectiveness of simply teaching students to simply memorize dates and events. He also stresses the importance of capacity for empathy and thinking in a “what if” mindset. According to McCullough, this is truly the way in which students will benefit and learn about their past.
I found Roger Mudd’s interview with Mr. McCullough to be quite enjoyable. I liked how he said that he was drawn to stories and events in history “wherein the human spirit is victorious in the end.” I don’t really know exactly why this made me so happy, but I guess it might be because you don’t really think too much about that kind of thing when you’re in the classroom. I just liked how he is a professional that is so passionate about what he does, that he thoroughly enjoys events in history such as the building of the Panama canal, and other inspirational events. I guess it’s just different from what you would usually hear from someone who is educating you about history, and I liked that he was so passionate about his work.
The cover of this packet that contains the interview with David McCullough says it all. "Although he is one of the most distinguished historians working today, he recieved no formal training in the discipline..." That is amazing. I like history but certainly not enough to study it for a living after going to school for something else. McCullough studies it and writes about it because he is intrigued by it. His career in the field started with looking at pictures of the Johnstown Flood and moved to other topics from it. He even goes to say that he finds pleasure in studying history. So, from McCullough I have gathered that studying history can be pleasureable and because there are questions about it. Sounds reasonable. He also says that history can teach and that is a big reason to study it. The people living throughout history, says McCullough, were not living in the past but rather the present. THey made decisions in the moment and we, today can learn from that as we live in the present.
I enjoyed his interview with Roger Mudd. McCullough came out of the interview as a man interested in the subject. He studies it for the love of it, not solely because he is a historian. His topics have spanned numerous occurances and have covered many important people and places. Some of the facts he uncovered were just amazing. Very few people would know so much about to Teddy Roosevelt to know that he could read two books in one night, and cite them five years later. That takes dedication. This interview was very interesting.
David McCullough said that “History is mostly a lesson in proportions”. By this he meant that others have triumphed over much greater obstacles than we have and have done it in much worse conditions. This thought is imperative to the reason why we study history. We cannot learn and accomplish things in the present if we don’t at least know what are and were capable of. No improvements can be made if the source of error or success is unknown. Another point that McCullough makes is that “There isn’t any such thing as the past”. To the people who read about in textbooks and biographies their accomplishments were not accomplishments they were decisions they made to get from point A to be point B. They weren’t thinking (for the most part) “Gee I’ll do this so I look like an amazing person with superb leadership”. Things didn’t have to go that way but the decisions they made right in that moment caused them too. We often assume that people we are read about knew the end result of their actions but it was not so.
One thing that I found to be very interesting about McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was his approach to learning about history. He talked about how it is necessary to have a degree of empathy for the people in history you are learning about. This is something I never really thought of before, but I realized actually makes sense of course you shouldn’t dismiss their actions but you have to realize they didn’t know the effects of what they were doing because they had not seen them yet!
David McCullough's quote "There isn't any such thing as the past" is essential to his view of why we study history. He believes that history is an important topic to study and that not enough people take interest in the past. He thinks that there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from history and by studying history, we can learn from these lessons. This quote means the people we read about in history books were not living in the past. What is the past to us, was the present to them. McCullough says that we can’t condemn people in the past for being naïve. They didn’t know any better at their time and we can’t blame them for that. He also says we should study history because it is a lesson in perspective. It is important that we have this perspective of past because people are often inclined say life was so much simpler back then. To them at the time it was just as complicated .When we think life is tough, we should think that everyone else in history has had it just as bad at some point.
McCullough's interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. His perspective of how we should view the past was very refreshing. Also some of his topics sounded very interesting. How he approached writing them made them seem more fun to read.
Through the interview with David McCollough I learned that history is a lot more than just a bunch of facts and dates. He talked a lot about how the people living at the time were actual people just like us. Also at the time they didn’t have as much knowledge about what was going on as we do now looking back on it. Therefore we can not judge the decisions that they made because one day people will be doing that about us. There was no way for the people that we look back on to have as much awareness as we do or the consequences that came from their decisions. He also showed that everything in history was connected somehow. The decisions that McCoulough made about which topics to write about were based on where his previous books had led him. One topic would connect and lead him to a completely different topic which sparked an interest. It helped me think about how our lives today will connect to other events in the future. The last major point I learned from him was that there really is no past. To us it is the present which will eventually be history. We live day to day as our own lives, not with the intention of how it will be looked at years from now when people look back and study history of our time.
David McCullough was able to accurately sum up his thoughts on the study of history through his quote “There isn’t any such thing as the past.” One of McCullough’s most important points throughout the article is that history is the reason events, society, and people are the way they are today. Without the past we are nothing. This being said, the past is never really the past because it is always present in the time we are living and the future. What happens in the past and present creates what happens in the future. By learning of the past events, we are actually learning about today and the events that occur. It is crucial to learn about the struggles that people of the years before dealt with and how exactly they solved them. We can learn so much from what they did to solve a problem or did not do to solve a problem. By learning about mistakes others made, we can see what we need to fix today or should keep the same.
By accepting this point of view held by McCullough, another important view comes into play, the importance of understanding the past’s events. One problem that McCullough feels today’s students present is that they do not understand history. “We have wonderful students today, maybe the best ever. But many of them have gotten to where they are because they’re very skilled at reading a teacher’s mind.” What McCullough presents through this quote is that students today need to discover history and not just be taught facts, people, numbers, and dates to spit back. They need to understand how important history is and create their own interest in the subject. McCullough seems to feel that each student will be able to realize their interest in history, just in their own way and time as long as the teacher allows and provides the first little push.
Much of what McCullough presents during his interview with Mudd are views that I agree with. When McCullough states that history is something that needs to seen as part of the present, I fully agree. McCullough describes his experience in his college seminar class and talks about the essay topic he presented to his students as a term paper. His views on why he approached the topic and term paper the way he did I feel are very eye opening. It makes you realize that history really is something to be discovered on your own and to fully understand your life and how history relates to it, you must appreciate what you are learning.
David McCullough promotes several reasons for the study of history, these include, for pleasure, understanding of the present based on the past, and acknowledging what happened. History is what shapes us, it is the foundation upon which the present is built upon, and on which the future will be directed from. By understanding history itself, one can better understand themselves, and their actions now and for times to come.
His interview with Roger Mudd was particularly interesting in that he investigated points uncommon to the ears. He acknowledges infamous historical figures on the base of empathy. Historian may not necessarily agree with these figures, but it is vital for them to understand what really happened to/around/and from the person. He seems to find “uninteresting topics” rather interesting, and states things that glorifies them and shows us how he found diamonds in a pile of rocks. His insight, dedication and understanding of these historical figures truly encompasses the true nature of historical studies.
“There isn’t any such thing as the Past” by David McCullough offers an insight on the study of history. In this David McCullough talks about history as a story or a tale. He views history as pleasure like movies, TV, art, and poetry. McCullough not only views History as a pleasure but also as a lesson. We study history to learn about the past and the lives of the people. McCullough wrote about Teddy Roosevelt and his life. From this biography we learn about his reading habits and his insane memory. History tells us about the past not only the glory but the mistakes. Our parents always told us to learn from our mistakes and move forward. History is much like that, History looks at human interaction from the past and from it we can either embrace it as lessons and move forward or disregard it and move backwards.
I thought the interview with Roger Mudd was very interesting. I found the teaching methods of David McCullough very interesting. McCullough hands his students each a different pictures and has them write a paper on the picture. Each picture is different from each other so the students have no way to compare or compete with each other. This teaching style is very different from the other teachers. McCullough is a very interesting person and I hope to read his history works in the near future
While reading the interview with David McCullough, I was presented with a multitude of fascinating incites into why he considered the study of history to be important. I was most surprised to find that some of the reasons that he presented were ones that I had had all along but had not been able to identify. His main thesis on the reasons why we study history was as follows, “we should not only know history because it makes us better citizens and there are great lessons to be learned from it, but history is also a source of great pleasure. This revolutionary paradigm shit recognizes the reading and study of history as no longer a strenuous and unnecessary task but instead an enjoyable activity to do in your free time. He supports this argument in a rather genius way saying that the reason that most Americans do not derive pleasure from history as he does is because the way that it is presented in school and so on. One of the most important quotes states “But if;s a matter of dates and memorization of obscure provisos and ancient societies, if it's made boring, if it's mad dull, how can you blame anyone for turning away from it?” I feel that this quote sums up why he feels that people do not have the passion for history that they should. On that note I agree with his reasons to study history and can only hope that the teaching of history becomes more interesting so more people can enjoy it.
David McCullough's idea of there isn't such thing as the past relates specifically to the people he talks about in history. He explains that people in history did not go about their daily lives knowing that the events they are living will be known as the past. I myself believe the same thing. After I submit this blog, it will be a thing of the past, but as I'm writing my response it technically is the present. This is the point McCullough is trying to get across, that when these people were living, was during their present time. The past to them only exsisted after their era had died. On a different note, George Orwell speaks of the same thing that McCullough talks about in his book 1984. "Who controls the past controls the future...Who controls the present controls the past" Two very similar things to McCullough's idea of the present being the past. The views are a really interesting take on how to view history. I never really thought of looking at it that way. Another thing that McCullough likes so much is that history is the ultimate story. He believes that moral lessons are learned by reviewing past events in the world Just like the Johnstown flood he speaks of. He is very much correct on this idea. A lot can be learned from past mistakes.This is where knowing about the past comes in handy so humans don't keep repeating these mistakes over and over again.
We study history, according to McCullough, so that one understands what people felt during that time and being able to relate to that feeling. As David McCullough says one studies history not just for the discovery but also the enjoyment of just learning what happened. In addition, one does not study history through the viewpoint of just one historian but a wide variety of them including one's self. The reason for this is that if one looks only at one view, one cannot really empathize with the society they are studying. As in this interview, McCullough expressed his views that people should not treat studying history as to study the past because "people in the story didn't live in the past."
As goes for the rest of the interview, I found it extremely intriguing that this historian was able to relate to so many different events together. Moreover, I liked the fact that he really wants students to be excited about history and not treat it as just another boring class. Lastly, I like the fact that he did write those books to other historians but rather to the public. Of which he sincerely wants the reader to feel what it was like living during "past" and experience and empathize with its people.
According to McCullough, we study history because it was not history to those who lived it, as what we live is not history to us, but will be to future generations. This is the most important reason to study history, because those who McCullough writes about are not people who wake up saying “I am going to make history today,” they wake up and go do their job, which happens to be doing something amazing, not so they can be written in history. Another reason to study history is to understand why certain events occurred the way they did. In hindsight events may seem stupid or shortsighted, but at the time they made a lot of sense. Also to try and understand why people throughout history acted as they did. It is not to try and sympathize with them, merely to attempt to understand what their maniacal minds were thinking.
This interview with McCullough was very interesting, in that it made me look at history in a new way. I also agreed with a lot of things he said, for example that when history is made to be memorizing dates and events it is boring, but when one is made to understand why it becomes so much more interesting. I also enjoyed learning how he figured out who to write about, and how everything he writes is connected. It was incredibly interesting to learn why each of the topics he wrote about where written about, and what caused him to learn about each of his topics and find it interesting.
“I think people are the most interesting subject of all, and I am thoroughly interested in those people who went before us.” David McCullough has a different view of history than the majority of people who take a history course. He sees it not as a static entity; not a place where the events that occurred were on a linear track that forced them to be that way. The Germans could have won World War I, America could have lost the Revolution. He views history as a being whose course was shaped not be men who looked forward to their names being remembered for all generations, but by men who stood up for what they believed and devoted their lives to the hope that they could do what was best. This view has given McCullough a reason to study history other than the need to know what came before; he says that we should study it because it is living and it is interesting. The Inquisition was certainly an important event in the history of the world, but McCullough would state that we should read about it because it shows how humans have progressed. The reason we study history is to learn the mindset of the people who lived in their present. As he puts it, “They didn't walk around and say, 'Oh, isn't this fascinating, living in this great old time?'” History was never history to those who lived it, and by studying history we can step into the lives of our past human brethren to learn how their present is different from our present. I think it's a wonderful article and, in all honesty, I hope to see more from him. His words are both elegant and chilling because of their exact truths. It's one of the best articles I've read about history yet.
There are many reasons as to why one studies history. I believe one studies history to learn from the past, to study the many different things, such as inventions, and how they set the foundations to the technological success that the world enjoys today for example. Every professor that teaches a subject regarding history, always seems to ask as to “why one should study history?” Some say, to learn from our mistakes or to derive lessons, while others may say to study as well as analyze various historical personalities that impact mankind today in many ways. All of this is indeed the truth however according to modern day writer and historian, David McCullough; we study history to obtain pleasure, similar to music, theater, or art. McCullough, regards his works enjoyable and has a great amount of joy when it comes to learning new topics regarding history as well as other subjects in general. Furthermore, McCullough believes that one can learn from the various lessons that history teaches which can then create a better future for us, through fully understanding such lessons.
According to McCullough one should view history by the perspective of the people during that time frame. As McCullough said, people living during that time did not treat the era like we view history today, instead it was their present and to fully comprehend why events occurred the way they had, one has to go back in time and analyze the era themselves. One can then use the gained knowledge as well as understanding and relate it to our present as well as making the prediction of what could possibly occur in the future to come.
McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd was extremely interesting. McCullough’s various methods of teaching history were quiet different compared to the typical style historical scholars would use to teach pupils. Instead of having students memorize facts and dates, McCullough gave interesting assignments like the term paper that he had given at a university he taught. He assigned each student a photograph, who had to analyze as well as write a paper about it. The assignment caused students to compete against themselves instead of other students taking the exam as well. McCullough developed such ways in which he believed that this is truly the way one should learn history and truly comprehend the meaning behind various historical events. I believe that McCullough’s teaching methods were extremely different and more interesting versus the typical ways a history professor would teach. McCullough wanted his students to enjoy history and discover pleasure in studying history the way one would find pleasure in entertainment such as art and music.
David McCullough says that we should learn history for various reasons. One of them that he states is that most people only look to the future, and there would be no future if there was no past. And with uncovering things from the past you realize that many things would not have happened if it were not to related events. For example the american revolutionary war would not have happened if it were not for Frances support. In the past we should be proud of the accomplishments that Americans have done. For example The Brooklyn bridge,and the solution to the pana canal. through Davids research we learn about Roosevelt and how he wanted to get into a lot of wars because his father let him down in that aspect by paying someone to take his place in the civil war. We can learn so much about ourselves if we learn about all the accomplishments, disasters and structures we have done, overcame and created.
I found this interview quite interesting to read. It was very conversational and easy to understand. I also find it cool that he could go into the library of congress look at some pictures, wonder what those pictures are, research them and then write a book on it. The topics that he has written about i find similar as to what i enjoy learning about. Through reading this one article i have learned a lot and wasnt expecting to find out unusual facts such as Roosevelt wanting to be involved with war becuase he was dissappointed with his father, or how he could read two books a night, and how the brooklyn bridge was designed by a german. All these things although they maybe insignifigant i find quite interesting.
David MCCullough is a very intellectual and inquisitive man. He has studied history for an extremely long time and thus has developed a passion and knowledge of history as a whole unmatched by most. He gives many reasons for studying history but he seems to stress the fact that we should study history because it is a source of great pleasure. Another reason he believes that history should be studied is because of his statement that "people are the most interesting subject of all, and" he is "thoroughly interested in those people who went before us."
Based on his interview with Roger Mudd many thoughts have crossed my mind. I really enjoyed the quote "There isn't any such thing as the past." I never thought of history this way but I truly believe that this statement is correct. McCullough explains this quote by saying that at the time when events occurred it was the present, therefore there really is no history. I also like his general idea that the study of history provides easy movement between eras and events. Which provides and easy explanation to why all of his pieces are from different time periods in history. His easy movement from the Johnstown flood to Roosevelt to Truman is remarkable to mein in its ability to show the progression of history. His thoughts on empathy are also particularyly interesting. He shows that after learning about the struggles of people in historywe learn to walk in their shoes and what ismust have felt like to be them at the time of the historical events. All in all, David McCullough is quite an intellectual individual. His thoughts on history as a whole are quite intriguing and provide a whole new perspective on how to look at history as well as why one should look at history.
I believe that McCullough is trying to get us to better understand history. I think that McCullough really loves history and he wants us as students to learn more about it. He wants us to realize that history is not meant to be boring. History is real thinks done by real people and it has merit in our world today as we know it. History is not a series of numbers and it isn’t sequential, but history builds on itself and is very interesting if it is taught the right way. McCullough believes that it is important to look at history from many different points of view. Everything in history is recorded by many different sides. Every side has their own point of view. I believe that McCullough is trying to get us to realize how interesting history is. He wants us to see the stories behind the boring dates that history might be.
David McCullough is an avid student of history, and he believes that all people should share hiss passion because history is a fascinating subject that can be learned from and built upon, and also to help people currently living to understand the lives of people who came before them. “There isn’t any such a thing as the past.” This is Mr. McCullough’s view of the world. The past that people living today believe in was not the past when the people in that time period were living, and it is not acceptable to say that people who came before you lived in “simpler times” because that was their modern time. He believes that the past is a very useful instrument for teaching lessons to future generations and creates better rounded and more knowledgeable people. McCullough believes that the best way to understand proportions and the way that people used to live is to put oneself in the shoes of people who lives predated our own. Although McCullough does have a passion for history, when asked, he said that he would not like to live in the past, but he would enjoy a visit for a couple of days. This short visit would enable him to better understand lives of people who lives years ago, but it would also allow him to come back and not only share his knowledge, but to enjoy the advancements that are being made in this era. One of McCullough’s ideas was to learn from the people in history who wrote or acted the way they did because of the society the lived in, and not because they planned on being remembered for years to come. McCullough also believes that the instructor has a great influence over the mindset of children concerning history. If the instructor has the students memorize a bunch of dates and names, history is no longer fun, which hinders the young minds form wanting to pursue history as a topic of study.
I believe that McCullough is a very enlightened individual, who even through his lack of education, has managed to excel in his chosen field of study. He is very knowledgeable of the needs and interests of students today, perhaps because he is still learning himself. The interesting topics and the format of his class projects inspire the students to learn on their own and in a way that they will never forget.
David McCullough if presented this question might himself pose the similar yet opposite question-well, why not study history? It is through history that a person may inquire about how a nation has in the past undergone evolutionary changes that have helped fabricate the very framework by which that very nation stands. Without history or the study of it, we are only people severed from the very past that would be the basis for our future. Should a child live, and not know what womb he or she had come from, or should a masterpiece have no creator? As David McCullough puts it, “Why cut ourselves off from that larger experience of all those who went before us.” Because in history lies so many lessons that could be learned by those who come after it. From the building of the Panama Canal, one can learn that the solution to a problem can be derived not necessarily only in one’s perspicacity but in the problem itself. And as McCullough states how the U.S. and France lost a combined 25,000 people, we can also learn about the struggle that many people went through in order to contribute to the amelioration of the world economy and commerce. In other words, “our predecessors…rose to greatness and did things of which we are the beneficiaries.”
One of the things that McCullough said in his interview that struck me was how he implied that history is only boring if it is made boring. If history is made a perfunctory subject that one memorized dates and facts, then it will remain insipid. But if you approach history as something that holds many lessons from which you can learn, or as a myriad of people who have each in some way contributed to what the world is today. Only then will history become interesting.
David McCullough makes many points in his assessment of why we should study history. One major thing that he gets across is that history is more than just a sequence of events whereupon something happens, then something else happens, then something else happens. History is a collective series of events where many things happen at the same time. Futhermore, he states that no one time was easier than another because every time period had its own problems and conflicts to deal with. For example, he mentioned how we questioned why decent Christian people owned slaves. However, some day in the future people are going to wonder about why people do what they do, and the answer is because this is how we solve problems. Finally, he believes that we should study history in order to understand why people triumphed and why people failed. By learning this, we can perhaps repeat our successes and learn from the past what works and what does not.
I thought that the interview with McCullough was very interesting. He brought about new perspectives of why to study history that I have never thought of before. Also, he puzzled me at times when he talked about his books, because they weren't of very popular events and people, but rather somewhat popular and that most people have probably forgotten about.
David McCullough discussed various reasons to study history. One of them is simply because it is enjoyable. If one enjoys music, they will listen to music. This is why we should study history if we enjoy it. Not only is it a source of pleasure but learning history can prevent America from making the same mistakes that we made in the past. McCullough believes that learning history will make us better citizens. One of my favorite parts of the reading was when he declared, “There isn't any such thing as the past”. Harry Truman did not wake up every day thinking that he lived in the past. He simply lived in the present just as we do. It is fascinating to understand that Truman did not know how America was going to end up. If he had different policies, America would be different today. By comprehending history, one can understand themselves to a greater extent.
I learned a lot from David McCullough’s interview with Roger Mudd. I was intrigued by the term paper that McCullough gave his students at Cornell. Each student received a photograph, and they had to write a paper based on the photograph. It is interesting how history is connected. From one photograph you can end up learning a whole century of history.
David McCullough approaches history as a writer and storyteller and delights in studying people. He believes that history should be a study of proportions and putting things in perspective. He says that the challenges we face today are nothing compared to the obstacles that those before us have faced. McCollough is very optimistic and excited with the idea that the “human spirit” has emerged victorious over many challenges. He reaches out to the human aspects of historic figures and emphasizes that we put ourselves in their shoes.
McCollough urges us to think of history as the ongoing story where we recognize all the human characters and their actions as if their time contained the uncertainty of our present. He also reminds us that history could have gone in many different directions, there was never set pattern in which events had to follow. He also mentions the great men/women of history such as Jefferson, and notes that we should recognize them as great but by no means perfect. The story of history and its characters must always be taught in an appealing way, not dull memorization, in order to keep the attention of today’s generations who have a tendency to always look towards the future. Essentially, he believes that the discovery and excitement in exploring history should draw students in and get them enthralled about the “past”—a term that he does not condone.
I admire and am impressed with McCollough and his perspective on history. I’ve always felt that learning history is easier and more of a fun experience if you think of it as a story and appreciate the motivations, causes, and effects along the way. I found it particularly interesting that he made a point of the critical and contemptuous way we view slavery today and then commented that future generations will probably condemn us for an irresponsible mindset, possibly the way we treat the environment.
McCullough says that we study history not only because it makes us better citizens, but because it is extremely enjoyable. It is an exhilarating experience to learn about the great stories and it is awe-inspiring to discover the great accomplishments in history. He points out that it is amazing how much people such as the Founding Father accomplished, or Botticelli, or the architects of the Golden Gate Bridge. I think McCullough makes an excellent point here. In class, we learn about the facts and the events of history without stopping, often times, to consider how remarkable those events are. We have to put ourselves in those people’s shoes or look at those events in context in order to truly appreciate them.
I also think that McCullough makes an excellent point when he says that we should never consider those in the past naïve. I had never thought about this much before, but it is true that we tend to look back on those people and judge them unfairly. McCullough is right that we should not do this because what they did was just normal then, during the period they lived in, during their “present.”
I found that the way that McCullough teaches—giving photographs to each student—to be extremely interesting. I completely agree with him that studying history is not about memorizing what happens and when because that is boring and tedious; in fact, I used to not like history for exactly this reason. I think McCullough’s method is an ideal way to teach because then students can learn about the exciting things beyond just the facts and timelines. It is unfortunate that such a thing, without objective textbook learning, would be impractical in high school history classes because the huge range of material that needs to be covered makes studying every figure in such depth not practical.
It is important to study history for many reasons. First off, when taking a look back at history, historians and politicians and economists alike can pinpoint certain events and actions and study how they impacted the people of that time. They can use that information to introduce policies that pleased people in the past, and avoid those decisions frowned upon by previous generations. History must always be looked at from a different point of view also, to avoid a biased stance. Mr. McCollough also stresses that we can not view the past as a time that has passd and was more primitive than ours. The people living in that time did not think of themselves as primitive, and had no reason to belive so. Innovations and discoviries made in the past can not be viewed as insignificant either, for they occurred in the present time of a previous generation. History, when taught correctly, can be a fun and satisfying experience for those learning it. When the past is placed in perspective, the people being taught can greater appreciate what the people in the past experienced. People need to study the past in order to plot a proper course for the future, it is an essential piece of information regarding how we have ended up in the situation we are in today. No matter what we read or who we read it from, there is always the possibility of a bias, and that we, as the reader, and the srudent must be extremely careful in conseidering.
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