Book smarts are underrated
Yes, a hot take, especially in the age of "College is a scam" and "The Internet can teach you anything", but I do stand by it, at least in some sense. For example, without book smarts I would maybe not realize just how many run on sentences I use. Or how often I write in the passive voice. The war is won by me, Mr. Lipowitz...
That's why I'm starting a new series: Things worth knowing. The idea is simple, I have an eclectic group of people around me, who in my opinion are quite knowledgeable in a diverse range of subjects.
Each of them have a unique insight to offer, whether that is business acumen, financial advice, medical knowledge, or in this week's case; historical expertise.
We'll be diving into one of my brother's many passions that is history. He kindly offered, well agreed after I asked, to share some of the facts and themes that are most tried and true, and concepts that he believes are not only worth knowing, but should be known regardless of your expertise.
Take a read into five of the ideas he provided and some additional research into them for those non historians, like myself, to get some context.
Learn about genocide
He specifies further here to not just the learn about the Holocaust, but other genocides that have taken place as well. His key takeaway here is that studying the topic will reveal a lot about humanity, a hard hitting start.
To break this down just a touch further, let's understand what genocide is as the UN defines it below.
"In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group
Killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."
The last couple of points stick out to me the most, read them again. I understand it as deliberately preventing people from not just living, but continuing their bloodline, again adding to the weight of the subject.
Other genocides
Per his suggestion, I looked into a couple of other genocides that occurred. I read a little bit about the Armenian Genocide, sometimes called the first genocide of the twentieth century. In modern day turkey, between 600k and 1 million Armenians were killed through starvation, individual killings or systematic methods.
While there are many causes, I have understood it as Armenians being accused of being saboteurs in favor of the Russian's post WWI.
Also, out of pure speculation I want to guess why he said this last piece. Perhaps it is a cynical approach, about how destructive humans can be. But, I think it is meant to say how perseverant people can be. With a generation on the brink of extinction, people push through. They conquer and empathize with their people over the scar tissue formed.
Everything has a history if you ask the right questions
Furthermore, you cannot "confine yourself to maps and documents. Objects, landscapes, and ideas also have a history of their own."
I particularly like this one, because it says a lot about him, and I can relate to it. I once read a buddhist book called The Teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh, or something along those lines. He suggests in that book that in order to practice mindfulness, you must be aware.
If you're washing your hands, think how far the water has travelled, how it has been cleaned and pressurized. Anything to help you understand that life is complex.
For me, this is what this theme means. Whether it is a cemetery carefully dotted with monuments, like the one he studied here, or a second hand couch everything does have a history. The couch has been slept on by another couple, or crawled on by a newborn. The wooden frame has been cut down or pressed in a factory, but nonetheless it has a history.
History is not written by the victors or losers, it is written by people that write stuff down
Here, the headline in itself is almost sufficient. It's clear cut, no room for interpretation. Nonetheless, I need to write it down to understand it, or at least explain my speculation.
It's somewhat of a contesting point to the phrase wrongly attributed to Mark Twain or Winston Churchill (I looked this up I didn't just know this off the dome). Instead of giving the power to the victors, it's saying that history is record. Without journals or written accounts, scribes etc., these records disappear.
Of course, sometimes history is written from the perspective of the winner and the loser. But in essence, history belongs to those who document it. Great quote.
In history, we stand on the shoulders of giants.
"In other words, we have the privilege of knowing what we do because of the footwork and research that people in the past have done. It builds on itself, which allows us to continue to learn more and answer more detailed questions."
Spoken like a true conservationist. Here, I understand his perspective as history is cumulative. It's conglomerative in the sense that it's built on the previous work of others, without their research and curiosity, many things are left undiscovered.
As much as this quote is an ode to the stewards and students of the past, it also is a message for the future. Without your curiosity, those that follow will have no room to expand.
Be interested in the uninteresting
"Try to make yourself interested/passionate about everything you hear."
This actually made me see him in a new perspective. Perhaps he wasn't always interested in history in itself, but rather saw the rawness behind it. Perhaps he saw the importance in record and built up in interest.
I've sometimes struggled to remember facts from history, or zone out when reading a museum plaque, but this is a great reminder to make the effort. I mean, isn't that what life is about, making the effort? Active listening, follow up questions, further research, that's where the gold lies.
The answers you are looking for, or the results you are seeking are not in the same places you have looked previously. If you think the conversation is uninteresting, I've got some news for you, you are the one that's lacking the curiosity and creativity to bring it to life.
Bonus Round
I also asked him to include a couple of facts to know, check those out here which to your surprise, I did not know either.
- The Columbian exchange is perhaps the most impactful event in human history (if you can even call it an event). Two out of every three bites of food we eat can be credited to it.
- France and Spain were the catalyst for the successes of the American Revolution. (Vamossss!)
- Thomas Jefferson believed it would take a thousand generations to settle the west (25,000 years). It took about 3 generations or about 90 years after he said that. Never underestimate the power of population growth and the human desire to explore.
I love the one about Jefferson. I think now how that applies to the compounding effects of AI and the rate of technological innovation. Just so we're clear, I'm not comparing Sam Altman to Jefferson.
Say what you will about the age of TL;DR, but understand that knowledge is king.
