Question

What does the study of history make possible?
A. To study what is and what is not favourable for human society.
B. Provide guidelines on how we should behave today in order to shape a good future.
C. Learn about the progress of human civilization.
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: The discipline of History is the study of human civilization over the known period of time which stands in the verifiable domain. But it is not limited to the dates and artefacts that can be found. These material realities extend to what the society as a collective learns from the past and does in the future.

Complete answer: History can simply be understood as the study of the past. Through various accounts, manuscripts, inscriptions, artefacts, archaeological structures like monuments and other kinds of evidence serve as the basis on which history is documented. But the need to know history emerges from curiosity to understand how human civilization has reached the stage it is in right now and what went into its making.

Looking at the options;
Option A- Understanding the favourable and unfavourable factors for human society is eminent for its survival. For instance, important lessons must be taken from WWI and WWII which caused the lives of millions of people around the world and destroyed many state structures alike. Thus, this is a correct statement.
Option B- By understanding what is favourable and what is not by the study of history, one ought to make conclusions about how the human collective must behave in order to secure itself from the dangers that have plagued the world already. Be it in the matter of economic decisions, wars, health care disasters etc., the past holds important lessons for the future. Thus, this statement is correct.
Option C- On a comparative basis, it is easy to look at the technological advancements that the human species has gone through over the ages up until the present times. But the progress of human civilisation also lies in ideological, value-laden subjects. Through history, one can understand these progressions in a context-specific manner. Thus, this statement is correct.
Option D- Since all the above statements are correct, this is the final correct answer.
Thus, option (D) is the correct answer.

Note: The documentation of history has existed in different forms since times immemorial. Yet, history became an academic discipline only in the mid-nineteenth century and began to be treated as a scientific discourse. Prior to that, history was seen as a branch of literature.