We have heard this “Past is Past. Forget it/Leave it… Live in the Present/Move ahead” several times from
our friends, elders, well-wishers, psychologists etc. This makes an
apprehension that the past/history is not important and only the present is
important because we are told only present is in our hands, neither the past
nor the future. But the psychologists, during the process of counselling, use
the history of the clients to understand & assess their behaviour pattern to
help the clients to come out of the problem. We can also find the importance
& use of history in several areas of our life.
With this contradictory thoughts
in mind, let us now try to analyze the pros and cons of history.
Before doing that, let us list
out the applications of history from different perspectives-
Doctors use the patient medical
history to understand holistically how the patient is responding, side effects,
allergies etc. to decide the course of
action or prescription of medicine etc.
Engineers use the history of the
equipment, historical parameters, maintenance records to asses the condition of
the equipment for predictive/preventive or breakdown maintenance of the
equipment. The historical trends of different parameters of the equipment help
the engineers to operate the machines at the optimum level with higher
efficiency and to ensure continual improvement in the performance.
Managers in businesses use the
history of purchase of different products to understand the customer buying
patterns & use them in strategic product planning, design & promotion
etc. Financial records or repayment history are helpful in fund
raising/investment decisions. History & past records are always helpful in
assisting the effective decision-making process. Even the past history and
background of the Human Resources is verified in the recruitment or promotion
processes. So, history/past records find a great place in every aspect of
Management theory and practice.
Investigation- Criminal
records/Crime history are very keen in identifying the criminals by police and
collecting the evidence. Tracking the call history has also become a clue for
investigating several cases.
Strategic alliance or war between
two kingdoms or countries- We can understand the basic social psychology or
mass psychology and the culture of the people of any region of the world if we
understand their history properly. This helps in making the strategies of
external affairs effectively. We can understand the changes in the behavior
also if the present is compared with the history.
In academia- Though the history
is one of the key elements of several competitive or recruitment examinations at
graduate or post graduate level, its importance in the school or college
education is not yet felt. It should ideally to be well integrated to all the
professional courses as well.
Entertainment- TV/Cinema industry
has achieved great success by focusing on the historical stories/autobiographies
etc. in the recent past. In fact, they have created history by telling the
History.
Sports- Several records and
benchmarks in the Sports history become the new goals to be achieved for the
future Sportsmen. Even the strategies of play, especially in Cricket are made
based on the pitch history, player history and track record etc.
In the traditional marriage
system of India, the past history of the family is also considered in finding
out the perfect life partner for a bride/bridegroom.
In Research- Unless we
know the history of what has been done so far on a particular field or topic of
research, we can’t identify the gap or frame our research objectives &
other steps of research. To track what has already been done in the history is
nothing but the Literature Review in Research terms.
Disaster Management-
Historical records of previous incidences and how those were handled will be
the guiding force for the current/future action plan for handling similar type
of disasters or emergencies.
We can explore more & more applications
of history like this…
If we see the other side of the
coin, history or past bad instances eat away the mind and continuous thinking
about them pull the mind into a vicious cycle which may lead to deterioration
of the psychological health. In such cases only, the psychologists use the
mental history of the client to correct the history in this mind. Here, we can perceive
the history as the collection of memories both in the conscious and
subconscious mind (mostly subconscious).
So the history or past has its
role in the following-
· In the medical field
· In Psychological
counselling
· In career counselling
· In Engineering-
Operation & Maintenance of Equipment
· In law & order-
identifying the suspects
· In Management- In
Strategic planning, Decision making, Branding & Promoting, Recruitment,
Financial Management etc.
· Alliance or War
strategies
· Emergency Handling or
Disaster Management
· Crucial in academia
· Sports Strategies
· Source of
Entertainment
Past things recorded in the mind
or in some physical form or written have become the history for us at present
(“History is the Study of the Past” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History ). Similarly, things we record
in the mind or in some physical or soft form or written will become the history
for the future.
So proper record keeping either
in the finance or research or work or anything can only create History… History
is always a good source of information… Analyze and take a Decision…
If you want to create history in
life, go for proper record keeping & use it effectively.
Learn from the Mistakes of the
Past. Correct them in the Present. Enjoy the Success in the Future.
Just brooding over the past will yield no results unless & until it is backed up with proper analysis and use it for a positive change.
Use the history/autobiographies for deriving inspiration and intrinsic motivation.
"Be the Change You Want to See in the World"... Mahatma Gandhi
