Introduction to the Discipline and Utility of History

History is fundamentally defined as the study of change over time. While it is often casually referenced as simply "the past," the discipline of history focuses on the processes that lead to specific events.
In a historical timeline, an abrupt change or a "blip" attracts the attention of a historian. To understand this blip, one must look at the process—the sequence of events and factors leading up to the change.
Historical events are rarely monocausal. For instance, the founding fathers of the United States did not decide to revolt against the King of England in a single morning. The American Revolution was the result of a process spanning decades.
While popular education often reduces the cause of the American Revolution to taxes, the Declaration of Independence itself identifies $27$ separate grievances and causes.
History also involves the study of continuity. Historians examine why certain things do not change or change very little in the midst of broader societal shifts.
There is a critical distinction between trivia history and the discipline of history.
- Trivia encompasses the "what" and "when" (e.g., "Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" or "When did the War of $1812$ begin?").
- The discipline of history focuses on the "how" and the "why."
Key dates, such as $07/04/1776$ (the issuance of the Declaration of Independence), have significance, but are secondary to understanding the underlying causalities.

The practice of history requires narrative and storytelling. Reconstructing the past necessitates explaining it through cohesive stories rather than a random assortment of dates and events.
Historical context is essential for understanding the past. One must avoid judging or interpreting the past through the lens of modern conveniences, such as Walmart, interstate highways, airplanes, or cell phones.
Understanding the world of the past requires imagining different physical and psychological realities. For example, a pilgrim arriving in the New World faced dense, unknown forests where survival required testing unknown berries to see if they were poisonous.
Social history focuses on the lives of everyday people rather than just wars and leaders. It examines how people survived, what they did for fun, their traditions, and their customs.
Specific historical examples of settlements include New Sweden, a Swedish settlement in what is now known as Delaware.
Historical analysis includes the Law of Unintended Consequences, which posits that actions taken with one result in mind often lead to different, unforeseen outcomes.

Knowledge is defined as the awareness or understanding of information. Information includes all the facts and details available to be known.
Facts have an objective reality; they are real, evidenced, and represent actual occurrences. There is no such thing as a "false fact"; a false fact is either misinformation or a lie.
Opinions are subjective and cannot be proven. If an opinion is proven, it transitions into the category of fact. Opinions have no basis in reality and are not grounded in fact.
History is an evidence-based discipline. The building blocks are primary sources—first-hand accounts generated at or near the time of the event.
Secondary sources are works like history books and articles that analyze and interpret primary sources.
Tertiary sources are third-hand accounts, such as encyclopedias and Wikipedia.

Interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to a set of facts. While facts are objective, the stories created to explain them involve interpretation.
Interpretation is subjective because people with different lived experiences view facts differently. However, interpretation is not the same as an ungrounded opinion.
Propaganda is rhetoric intended to persuade or influence. It can be intended to help or to harm.
Three specific types of propaganda and manipulation include:
- Gaslighting: Convinces a target to disregard their own perceptions of reality in favor of what the manipulator tells them.
- Allegation in the Mirror: A false claim that accuses a target of something the perpetrator is actually doing. This is often a precursor to genocide, as seen with the Nazis and the Jews, or the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda.
- Gish Gallop: Delivering lies at such a rapid pace that fact-checkers cannot keep up with the volume of misinformation.

History teaches empathy by allowing us to see the struggles of those who came before us.
Understanding history provides a sense of resilience. For example, knowing that people survived the Great Depression demonstrates that human society can survive such crises again, even if they are difficult.
History is a complex field with no single unifying theory; it is not suited for thirty-second soundbites or bumper sticker slogans.
From a career perspective, history is highly valuable. A study from the University of Colorado suggests that history and liberal arts majors often become the highest earners because they possess essential human characteristics.
History majors excel in critical skills valued by employers, including data collection, synthesizing information into a narrative, and effective communication. These skills are increasingly sought after even in fields dominated by AI and business administration.