Kindness

One of the most useful skills that history and historical inquiry teaches people is how to work well with others.  True historical study teaches students to consider multiple perspectives.  It also teaches how to pull information together to come up with a more complete understanding of an individual.  Why are these skills important?  I believe that understanding that there is more than one point of view can make you a kinder human being.  People often jump to conclusions about others without considering that they may have reasons for acting a particular way.  The events that people go through in life have helped shape who they are today and everyone has gone through different experiences growing up that have made them develop a unique perspective on life.  So, if you are having a disagreement with someone it can often help to consider how the other person is feeling and how their perspective might be different from your own.  

Think about the times that you have been caught in the middle of a disagreement between friends and you were able to mediate because you had heard both points of view.  This is similar to the way historians approach studying history.  Historians begin with a question that they are trying to answer and then gather together multiple sources from multiple perspectives to try and come up with an answer to their initial question.  Through continued research historians come up with more questions to investigate.  

So, the next time someone asks you why you are studying history just tell them, "because it makes you a better person!"