Why learn about history?
Added 2023-09-30 23:34:31 +0000 UTCHere's my first patrons-only video. I talk about my three reasons for thinking that history is worth studying, and also a couple things I don't think history is useful for.
Since at time of posting there aren't any patrons yet, I picked the topic. Eventually, if folks pledge at the middle tier or higher, they'll get to vote on topics.
If you use captions let me know how the experience is. Patreon says they automatically caption videos. I can't figure out how to get them to appear, so let me know if you get them to work. Otherwise I'll try to come up with another solution.
Comments
Thank you! I'm glad to know that there are people who find my videos useful. History is really rewarding when you start getting into it.
Premodernist
2024-12-20 00:56:48 +0000 UTCYou make history very interesting to me. I’ve been a lawyer for almost a quarter century. I’m also almost fifty years old and my interests seem to be changing. Your videos have definitely sparked my historical curiosity and your voice is EXTREMELY relaxing, which makes learning fun for me at this age. Thank you.
William Opeil
2024-12-18 08:46:53 +0000 UTCI'm late to this but I want to double down on the sentiment that it is remarkable to learn for the sake of learning. I'm dying on that hill
Alex Beglan
2024-12-08 18:32:02 +0000 UTCGreat as always
Joe Faliszek
2024-04-11 19:23:01 +0000 UTCGiven our short lifespan, there is so much wisdom in history that would otherwise be lost if we had only our lived experience for reference vs millenia.
Thomas Pellino
2023-12-31 01:23:44 +0000 UTCThank you very much!
Premodernist
2023-12-27 00:50:48 +0000 UTCNew patron here. I am a layperson with a science background and a newer interest in history. If history had been presented with more nuance at my college I might have taken an earlier interest in it. Instead, it was the culture for professors to wield historical facts in service to too-broad generalizations and predictions. I am always curious about the sort of grey spaces where we assign value to facts. I think your videos tend to navigate these spaces with due delicacy. I think it makes the stories more interesting. (Also, the classic film footage in some of them pulled me in.) Anyway, it does seem valuable to learn history, and it's fun to do it here so keep up the good work👍
Erin O'Shea
2023-12-25 23:26:02 +0000 UTCI feel the same way. It's crazy to see that things that seem so normal to us weren't always like that, and often they appeared only really recently.
Premodernist
2023-11-23 01:33:43 +0000 UTCThis is great. To your point about incorrect assumptions about history already influencing policy, I've always found learning about history fascinating because you realize nothing about any society is as it has to be, simply what the historical events have led us to. For decisions massive and trivial (like say, why red means stop on a traffic light and green means go. There's probably a whole history which led to that decision. But now we all of course assume that's just the natural order of things). It feels like so many bad policy decisions are informed by people's belief that the things we don't like about our current world are inevitable, intractable and simply "the way things have always been." Thankfully, history usually proves that false.
Funny_hat
2023-11-20 04:25:28 +0000 UTCKeep your tube videos free and well research that you spend your time on, it's worth it. It is nice to know that what i show others is coming from a learning point of view and at the same time from someone who does not speak in a technical language so that everyone can jump in and learn.
Dakapo
2023-11-14 19:31:32 +0000 UTCThanks!
Premodernist
2023-11-13 23:37:42 +0000 UTCHey - love the channel
Jim Francis
2023-11-13 09:23:53 +0000 UTCThanks! Yeah, the autofocus had a glitch for a moment, and I decided to leave it in as an Easter egg.
Premodernist
2023-11-12 18:01:51 +0000 UTCdecided to become a supporter because of the 'asking genghis khan...' video and reference to 'the alchemist' book. had no idea it existed, and hope you share more forgotten books in the future. your camera briefly unblurred the bookshelf background around the 3m7s mark, so i got a couple more out of this video...
Jason Adrian
2023-11-11 17:28:25 +0000 UTC
