Theory on Knowledge, Essay Example

Task

“The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future.” To what extent is this true in these areas of knowledge?

The historian’s and human scientist tasks

1.0 Introduction

History and science differ and agree in many ways. Over the years, the developments in the fields of history and human science have led to new discoveries being made on the past, present, and the expected future. The two fields have shaped the study of the past with the view to shape the future. The statement, ‘The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future’, brings out key issues on the two areas of knowledge that should be understood.

2.0 Terminology

Historian-This is a person who has focused on studying and understanding the past. Historians use a number of tools and platforms to dig deeper into the past and understand events as they occurred.

Human scientists- These persons focus on studying science related to human life and activity. They study on the role of humans in shaping the current and future state of the world.

3.0 Knowledge Questions

The knowledge questions that are central to the discussion include:

Q1. How does history study about the past?

Q2. What are the focus areas of historians, and human scientists as they study on the past, and the future?

Q3. Are there tools that historians and human scientists use to achieve their objectives?

4.0 Analysis & Discussion

The subject sheds much light on the functions and the focus on the two areas of knowledge on the past and the future. The two areas of knowledge (history and human science) have continued to shape the knowledge on the past, and present to the expected future. The current world depends much on these two knowledge areas in explaining events as they occurred, and their expected future implications to the world of the day, and the future.

The statement is to a significant fraction true in the field of history. This is because history focuses on studying past events. Historians are focused on establishing on how past events took place, and their significance at that time and to the current age. This focus has made historians employ a number of tools to gather information on the occurrence of the past events. Historians focus on studying the past to gain a better understanding of human life and conditions as they were. The field has delved into establishing human conditions and lifestyles that people maintained, and the motivation behind these lifestyles.

This statement is also true in the context because historical studies are done with the objective to understand how things happen. Many events that cannot be easily understood occurred in the past, forcing historians to study and provide an explanation on how they occurred. For instance, the study of the formation of volcanic mountains would lead historians to find out on the way the events occurred for the mountains to be formed, and the forces that led to this development. In other words, the field of history has focused on building establishing the rationales behind the occurrence of a number of events and activities that took place in the past.

The statement may also be true as regards the field of history, through looking at the patterns of people’s thought at a given time, and the influence of their thinking patterns to the developments maintained at the time. Historians study about civilizations of the ancient times, the way the people thought at the time, and the impact of their thought pattern and lifestyle to the events and activities that they got involved. In other words, the field of history involves looking at the past, the thinking patterns of the people of the past, and their motivations on the different activities that were practiced in these times. This builds up on the knowledge on the past events, and the cultures that sustained the events.

The statement, ‘The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future’, may be true from the historical perspective. This is because historians have also focused on studying the past to establish changes that have occurred in the past, and why these changes or their absence took place over a period. In other words, historians undertake the task to study the past, and the transformations that accompanied the past events. This is meant to understand the changes that took place in the past that shaped life and culture. Through studying the past, and changes linked to it, historians capture transformations that took place in the society over time.

The historian task is task is to understand the past, and the events that took place in the past periods. The focus is to gain new knowledge out of the events that were passed with time, with the intention of using the given knowledge in making key conclusions about the past cultures, and practices of people and communities. In addition, historians are focused on gaining the details on knowledge that existed in the past, which was responsible for the past civilizations. There is so much knowledge that existed in the past, which would have otherwise been lost, but for the work of historians. Historians have taken up the responsibility of digging up into the past knowledge that people had, and their contribution to the events at the time.

On the other side, the statement, The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future’, may be true from the human science perspective. The field of human science is focused on studying the present day events and activities with the intension to change the future. Human scientists have focused on studying events related to human activities and cultures, and the necessary steps to undertake to change the future. Human science studies have focused on the studying the past and present way of life of human beings to gain knowledge, which is critical in changing the future.

In other words, human science is focused on studying on the human cultures and activities that have been maintained over a period. Human science analyzes diverse human activities that humans have engaged with the need to establish the changes that may be embraced to change the future. Future change cannot be achieved without a deeper understanding of the past, and the present. It is on this basis that human scientists have focused on studying events, as they are to find out on the possible changes that need to be enforced in the future. Through studying events as they are, human scientists are able to figure out the needed future changes that may need to be put in place.

Human science may also involve studying the current changes taking place in the society. For instance, human science may study on the issue of climate change and the role of humans in causing this change. The study of climate change and its relation to human activity allows human scientists to figure out on the future changes that may be put in place. Human scientists have put their focus on changing the future by studying about the current human activities that have shaped the past, and have potential to shape the future. Human scientists would identify key attributes of the current events, and use the information they have collected to change the future.

In addition, human science looks at changing the future by employing logic in studying about human activities. It involves looking at human activities and the present day events and fixing this in the future perspective. For instance, human scientists may study events, such as current temperature changes, sea level, storm events, and other events with the focus to change the future. Though studying such events, human scientists use logic in figuring out the causes of such events, and the best approaches to solving the problem at hand in the future. By this, human science may suggest changes that may be undertaken to change the future.

This study has taught me much on the areas of history and human science. It has allowed me to conceptualize on the differences that exist between historians and human scientists. From this study, I have been able to understand the focus of historians in understanding the past, and its events. Historians have focused on understanding the past, the unfolding events as they were, and the significance if the past events to the current life. The focus on the past, and related events have made historians to find credible information on the significance of the past events and cultures to the present life. in other words, historians have been very useful in allowing the present state of the world to be understood, through the lens of the past events. Historians have been useful in allowing information on the past to be established enabling the people to understand their past.

On the other side, this study has also enabled me to gather much detail on human scientists and their role in society. The study shows that human scientists are involved in conducting studies on the present and past with a focus to change the future. They look forward to changing the future by finding out the critical knowledge and information on the current state of the world. Human scientists focus in studying human activity and behaviors, and use the knowledge they find to change the future. Their focus is in studying on the ways to change the future, and related events. In essence, this study has shown that the statement, “The historian’s task is to understand the past; the human scientist, by contrast, is looking to change the future,” is largely true.