I hope that you experience the personal enlightenment that comes when examining the human condition for yourself. During the ages when the subject of history was young, Ancient Greek and Roman thinkers studied records of the past for answers. These early scholars asked "why," and consequently learned more about the changes around them. I believe that the study of history and the social studies liberates the mind from ignorance and creates noble citizens. Learners of the past appreciate why governments, societies, economies, religions, etc. change and continue overtime.  Sapere aude (DARE TO THINK).  I challenge you to always learn and have courage in your own understanding, as Immanuel Kant (1784) once urged during the Enlightenment period.