The Value of learning history? The importance of history?

Now, Professor, stop looking and go!" The young man stood in the exhibition hall with his mouth curled up and his teeth showing impatience.

Unmoved, the professor bent over and looked calmly at the relics in the showcase: "Young man, it is rare to come to the museum, you are in such a hurry, you will miss a lot."

Young man: "Miss what?" Professor: "Missing our history." The young man "poof", rolling his eyes: "Learning history is useless? In my opinion, history is useless except as fodder for talking."

The professor, still bent over and looking sideways at the young man, said coldly, "Young man, you are completely wrong. History is the most precious thing to a nation." It was rare for the young man to show such a serious expression on the professor's face. His annoyance was slightly subdued, but his mouth was still unconvinced. "Tell me, why is history important?"

"History is important because every human decision is a product of reason and emotion," the professor continued, hunching over the artifacts in the display case. "That's not my view. It's the view of an amazing neuroscientist and psychologist named Antonio Damasio." The young man shrugged his shoulders and waited for the professor to go on.

Professor: "Damasio once came into contact with a patient who had a happy family and a successful career, but unfortunately he developed a brain tumor. Although the tumor was surgically removed, his brain was damaged by the compression, which caused strange changes in his whole being..." At this point, the professor's voice was deep, as if he were telling a ghost story. "What strange change... ?" The professor tapped his temple. "The patient lost the ability to feel and became an absolutely rational person." The young man shrugged his shoulders and showed his hand: "... Huh? . Absolute rationality? Isn't that a good thing?" The professor frowns. "Not at all. Although the patient performed well in a series of IQ and cognitive tests, he was unable to make any emotional waves.

"Vortex of reason? What's that?"

Professor: "It's as if a person is perpetively stuck in a fork in the road of reasoning. Let's say the patient is asked by the company to sort the files, but the question of whether to sort them by file size or by date and relevance can take him an afternoon." The young man shows his hand: "Is this ridiculous? ! Why don't you just pick any option? What's the point?" Professor: "This is easy for us, but it is extremely difficult for people who have lost emotional ups and downs, because through the observation and analysis of a series of similar cases, Mr. Damasio found that reason only gives people options, but it is emotion that gives weight to the options at the end and makes the final decision."

The young man was completely frozen. The professor grabbed the young man by the collar, brought him to him, pointed to a wooden sign in the display case and said, "Look at this. What do you feel?"

The young man looked, the glass case of the wooden sign written on the bright red "life and death card" three words, it is 98 years of flood fighting, standing on the embankment to stick to the post oath, under the same dozen bright red names. Looking at the silent students, the professor said: "Rationally, living with the levee was not the only option, or even the most cost-effective option. The people who left their names on the sign had the option to turn around and run away. After all, the people who had been guarding the gate for more than 40 days were exhausted, but the water was still rising like crazy. The fourth crest is roaring in, and it is perfectly normal for people to be frightened out of their wits and to want to run away to save themselves."

Young man: "But they didn't..." "No, they didn't. If they had run away, they would have survived, but half of Wuhan would have been razed to the ground, and countless civilians would have perished. Between their own lives and the safety of the people, they chose the latter. The professor looked the young man in the eye as he asked the question. The young man's head was full of sweat and he could not speak.

Professor: "Because these names belong to a group with a glorious history, for nearly a hundred years, they have risked their lives for the sake of the people, this is a long and vivid education for the members of the group, when the catastrophe comes, human reason will work out a series of options, including escape, but the history of the group in the moment of crisis into a great emotional strength, Give the highest weight to the interests of the people and let the choices of each member fall heavily over those of the people." The young man almost shivered. "... Is that what history is about?" Professor: "Yes, the same history education gives people the same feelings, and the same feelings will lead people to make the same choices. This is the cohesion of a group or even a nation."

The young man stood in front of the showcase in deep silence.