What good is history?

That's a question posed by an article in today's Chronicle of Higher Education.  In some prior posts to this Blog, I've been having a little fun with questions like, "What would Hitler have tweeted if he'd had Twitter?"

Philosopher George Santayana famously predicted, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  Trouble is that, contra Lamarck's mistaken notion of evolution way back in the 19th century, animals do not pass along what they've learned to their offspring.  Each generation must learn for itself to a very large extent. And, worse still, the younger generations have previously shown little interest in history.

However, all that seems to be changing.  If Trump has done nothing else to the good, he has awakened the sleeping activists in millions of Americans below the age of 35.  Some, sadly, are Trump supporters.  But many --- dare I say many more? --- are leaning sharply to the left.  They are reminding me of me when I was a tender and callow fellow.

So what can history teach these newly aroused activists?  As I have suggested in prior posts, we can learn from Hitler's rise and the lifespans of other demigods... just one example.

But at the same time, we must admit that we are witnessing phenomena that are entirely new in the history of mankind:

• A population explosion that is far from over yet
• Global climate change ( as I write this, we in New Jersey are anticipating 70-degree weather by Thursday, while Southern California is drowning in rain... talk about a flip of positions)
• Artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data
• The internet and social media

... all of which are unique, such that history in my view can offer only very little assistance to our understanding.