Man Doesn't Seem to Be Able to Learn from the Past

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“History isn’t just something that’s behind us; it’s also something that follows us.” - Detective Kurt Wallander, in Henning Mankell’s The Troubled Men I came across a quote from a book called “The Black Swan” which my friend had. It was written by a writer called Nassim Taleb. It said that “History is Unpredictable.” Just a very simple three words, but it means something. One can argue with this statement because of the definition. To me, it is clearly understood that we cannot define that history is dead, predictive or, even being safe. We foresee on something different. Even though such historical events had taken place, there could be some happenings which are interconnected with other historical events at a different time-frame. We might not know past historical event may repeat in the present, or maybe in the future. An example of the issues is the aftermath of September 11, which lead to the attack of the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. After a day of the September 11 attack, which is on the September 12, 2001, most of the newspaper article wrote a common line in the paragraph which relates to this issue on the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. The event started with terms to those used, such as “ground zero”. Both of the Pearl Harbor and the September 11 attacks were remained without any declaration of the war in the USA. The aftermath of both attacks was based on exaggerating fears along with the ensuing attacks that followed. In 1941, people feared that the Japanese would lead an attack on the West Coast, and in 2001, the air spaces were closed down for days to prevent the fear of further attacks. Both of the September 11 and the Pearl Harbor attacks shows the enormous failu... ... middle of paper ... ...ng, it is the fact that not man’s long standing struggle for survival, values and identity. It resembles the manners that are adopted and methods used. The ideas that make us think that these events were not co-incidental, but in fact, it is merely a sequence of planned activities that led the way towards a goal. However, the presence of such pain and the revelation of the mistakes has always worked against the man’s constant struggle for a better life, and does not have the ability to learn from the past. Works Cited Nassim, Nicholas Taleb (2008). The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2nd ed.). Penguin Books Limited. Boyer, Paul S. and others (2013). The Enduring Vision, Volume Two: since 1865. (concise 7th ed.) Boston, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Dower, John W. (2011). Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor/Hiroshima/9-11/Iraq. W.W. Norton.

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