Do people learn from history?

[Unyielding Stupidity]

People don't really learn from history, because any lessons that they'd need to learn (Those that go against their preconceived worldview) will be dismissed in favour of those that reinforce their current worldview. History is so vast, that you can easily find data that can support almost any worldview, so people will seek out what they already believe in.

 

[Gar For Archer]

Despite our capacity for empathy, humans are only capable of REALLY learning from first-hand experience. By nature we’re rebellious and skeptical - we’re not happy with just believing what others tell us, we have to see it for ourselves.

This, combined with our relatively short lifespans (compared to the timescales in which societal shifts occur) means that as individuals we can never truly learn from the mistakes of our preceding generations. We’re doomed to make the same mistakes over and over, because nobody currently alive remembers all the bad shit that resulted from the last time we fucked up in the same way.

 

[Fek]

You can learn from history (just like anything else) so long as you actually dig into it on your own and stay open (but critical) to new information as it's presented.

You will always be getting fed partial to complete bullshit if you let someone else do the work for you. K-12 history education in the states is a prime example.