Ramblings Inspired by Hunger
"History and German," I reply for the 47th time that day.
And everyone knows the question which follows after.
The question follows because my hearer misapprehends my purpose for studying German and History; not only that, they do not properly comprehend what I mean thereby; that is to say, those subjects signify to me.
To some, the study of history comprises the study and rote memorization of lists of dead men and the equally dead events of their lives, the only use for which is to torture the already wandering minds of bored children.
To others, thinking in a slightly more sophisticated way, it is the study of human development; perhaps the evolution of human civilization. Interesting, but not really of great utility. These sorts always respond with support, but perhaps with a shadow of amusement behind the eyes.
To others still, it is necessary. We must study history, or else we will keep making the mistakes of the past! If only people studied history, they would vote third party and the thousand year reign could begin in earnest.
No.
They are more impressed with German. I could teach that at a school too, and it is a rarer skill, so it should be in slightly higher demand. It is kind of cool as well. Impressive. I am yet to meet with a stranger who quite understood the importance of speaking the language of the worlds second largest export economy. Even then, that would fail to reach the mark.
My purpose in studying History and German resides in plain curiosity. I want to understand. More importantly, I want to understand ideas, and the nature of ideas. History is the complete record of philosophy, politics, culture, psychology, and literature in motion. Machiavelli refers to history as the laboratory of ideas, to which one must look to ascertain the nature of things, but what does he mean thereby?
To understand history is to have perspective. To understand any subject, outside of its greater context, is to understand it imperfectly.
Meaning without context is nonsense. A single word outside of a sentence, a sentence outside of the body of work, the body of work divorced from the author, the author removed from the context of history, all destroy meaning. If I tell my baby brother that I am going to run him over repeatedly with my car, he will probably giggle. If I say the same to a customer at work, I will be in exceedingly big trouble. The context has, without changing my words, fundamentally altered their meaning. All meaning is not derived from context--the literal message is unchanged--but accurately determining meaning is impossible without it. And if we are interested in the nature of things--truth, or what you will--then context, or perspective, is a prerequisite to any search.
If history is the context of human ideas and actions, my tools for comprehending what I find therein are linguistic. There may be some genius in the world who may hold the pure essence of an idea in his head; I am not he. When I think about something, if I wish to think about it clearly, I must use words. Sure, I can have a misty hodge-podge of feelings and ideas in my head, but only words can focus then. If, then, language is the symbolic medium through which I assign meaning to history and--well--everything, why restrict myself to thinking in English? German gives me a second linguistic, or symbolic, perspective, with which to assign meaning.
To oversimplify: what I desire is to improve my mind. Therefore, I study history, which is everything, and language, which is a medium through which to try and make sense of everything.
And everyone knows the question which follows after.
The question follows because my hearer misapprehends my purpose for studying German and History; not only that, they do not properly comprehend what I mean thereby; that is to say, those subjects signify to me.
To some, the study of history comprises the study and rote memorization of lists of dead men and the equally dead events of their lives, the only use for which is to torture the already wandering minds of bored children.
To others, thinking in a slightly more sophisticated way, it is the study of human development; perhaps the evolution of human civilization. Interesting, but not really of great utility. These sorts always respond with support, but perhaps with a shadow of amusement behind the eyes.
To others still, it is necessary. We must study history, or else we will keep making the mistakes of the past! If only people studied history, they would vote third party and the thousand year reign could begin in earnest.
No.
They are more impressed with German. I could teach that at a school too, and it is a rarer skill, so it should be in slightly higher demand. It is kind of cool as well. Impressive. I am yet to meet with a stranger who quite understood the importance of speaking the language of the worlds second largest export economy. Even then, that would fail to reach the mark.
My purpose in studying History and German resides in plain curiosity. I want to understand. More importantly, I want to understand ideas, and the nature of ideas. History is the complete record of philosophy, politics, culture, psychology, and literature in motion. Machiavelli refers to history as the laboratory of ideas, to which one must look to ascertain the nature of things, but what does he mean thereby?
To understand history is to have perspective. To understand any subject, outside of its greater context, is to understand it imperfectly.
Meaning without context is nonsense. A single word outside of a sentence, a sentence outside of the body of work, the body of work divorced from the author, the author removed from the context of history, all destroy meaning. If I tell my baby brother that I am going to run him over repeatedly with my car, he will probably giggle. If I say the same to a customer at work, I will be in exceedingly big trouble. The context has, without changing my words, fundamentally altered their meaning. All meaning is not derived from context--the literal message is unchanged--but accurately determining meaning is impossible without it. And if we are interested in the nature of things--truth, or what you will--then context, or perspective, is a prerequisite to any search.
If history is the context of human ideas and actions, my tools for comprehending what I find therein are linguistic. There may be some genius in the world who may hold the pure essence of an idea in his head; I am not he. When I think about something, if I wish to think about it clearly, I must use words. Sure, I can have a misty hodge-podge of feelings and ideas in my head, but only words can focus then. If, then, language is the symbolic medium through which I assign meaning to history and--well--everything, why restrict myself to thinking in English? German gives me a second linguistic, or symbolic, perspective, with which to assign meaning.
To oversimplify: what I desire is to improve my mind. Therefore, I study history, which is everything, and language, which is a medium through which to try and make sense of everything.
I can't express to you how much I enjoyed this. It could be due to my plans to major in the same things (except I might possibly swap out German for English, even though I love the language), or due to the fact that it is just simply true. History and language are basics for learning that can't be replaced.
ReplyDeleteI think you did an incredible job of describing why you are taking German and history! And your writing is really wonderful and enjoyable to read!