To b e i g n o r a n t o f t h e p a s t i s t o r e m a i n a c h i l d .

My past is your present

Am I here as a person or a hologram? Firstly, you need to believe in the
impossible. Can you do that? Great. What you need to know is that Im a girl
from 2100. And I am no hologram. Ive just time travelled because, well,
thats possible now.
But what truly matters is my mission here: the people where I come from,
your descendants, I mean, dont know anything from our past, that is, your
present and your past all in one. All memories seem to have been erased,
although they havent, so were currently found stuck in evolution. Thats
why Im here today.
This society youre building is hypocritical. In a minute, youre told that is
important never to forget some events, such as Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
However, in the very same minute, youre told that you have to get over
some other situations that you think wouldnt exist anymore. Essentially I
am talking about racism, feminism and sexuality, no matter how clich they
seem to be nowadays.
Id like to quote David C. McCullough. He said that history is a guide to
navigation in perilous times; history is who we are and why we are the way
we are. I reflected on this message and what this historian meant with it.
The truth is people are often surprised when they look back in history.
Lets take a quick look on a couple of situations.
1) FERGUSON CASE
On August 9, 2014, a police officer of Ferguson shot and killed an
unarmed black 18-year-old. Key facts about the shooting, including why it
happened in the first place, remain in dispute.
This shooting, like so many similar incidents brought back conversations
about racism not only in America, but in the world as a whole.
Fundamentally, after so many centuries of racism, which include slavery and
apartheid, the problem of racism still remains alive, when it should be very
deeply buried by now.
2) THE MACHINE
Someday soon youll hear about the machine the USA built which purpose
was to detect acts of terror. But their creators couldnt narrow down what
separated those acts of terror from crimes involving ordinary people, like
you. Most of the people had no desire to stop those ordinary crimes, so
they remained focused on terrorism, without actual success.

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Eventually, someone powerful, yet with a conscious, realized that too

many lives had been taken and, therefore, it was decided that the machine
had to be shut off.
In the time I live in, people have picked up that idea again, not knowing
the consequences of that choice. Thousands of lives are lost every day
because of that kind of ignorance towards the past.
History repeats is a common old proverb. Most people would agree with
it; I, for one, disagree. Quoting Marc Twain, History does not repeat itself at best it sometimes rhymes. At first, I laughed about it. Why? Simply
because it sounds like a pretty quote, with no previous thoughts of what it
means. But then, it hit me.
Repetition is the act of doing something again. On the other hand, rhyme
is the identity in sound of some part. To sum up, repetition is to reproduce
something that is exactly the same; rhyme is to reproduce something
similar, but not quite equal.
I think this quote means that although history does not repeat itself in the
sense that exactly the same things happen over and over again, it does
have a recurring theme. Similarities - as between Afghanistan and Viet Nam
that "ring a bell" as rhymes do.
For perhaps the only thing worse than not remembering ones mistakes
and learning from them, is remembering them too much and refusing to
move forward at all. As that other great American philosopher, Johnny Cash,
once said, You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the
door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on
it.
So, Ive given you two options: one is to sit tight and do nothing or you
can actually make a change.
Wait. You thought I was going to leave that quickly? Jeez, hold your
enthusiasm. I havent traveled this far just to tell you what you already
know, or so you think you do.
So I was searching for ways that you could remember the past and not
feel bad about it. I googled how to remember the past and then the
saddest thing came up: Did you mean how NOT to remember the past?
Google, cmon, are you serious? Even you?
Those who choose to simply forget the past miss out on its fullest
potential.
Consider the lessons we can learn from our past. By simply asking the
right questions, we can discover a lot. Has this made me stronger? Has
this past brought me someone or something incredible to my life? Have I

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learned something from past events? Ask yourself these and tell me if Im
not right.
History teaches values. If it is true history, it teaches true values; if it is
pseudo-history, it teaches false values. The history taught to our children is
playing a role in shaping their values and beliefsa much greater role than
we may suspect.

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