The Lessons of History - Part I
“I guess we haven’t learned much,” joked my father in law after seeing The Lessons of History lying on my coffee table.
At only 100 pages, it’s hard to believe Will and Ariel Durant captured the most important lessons spanning all of time.
But the saying turns out to be true. History repeats itself. When it doesn’t repeat it rhymes.
So we can capture the essence in 100 pages. And we can capture the specifics in thousands of pages in hundreds of volumes in dozens of libraries.
The events may differ, but the themes repeat.
History is long, but its lessons are few.
Learning these lessons—from two of the most qualified historians of the 20th century—improves our ability to make decisions and predict outcomes.
I view this book as a collection of mental models for life.
What follows is my summary of The Lessons of History. I’ve tried to make it readable for us 21st century humans. And I’ve made the points as brief as possible, because I know you’re busy.
I’ll go chapter by chapter, highlighting the key lessons so you can be more effective in your high level decision making.
This is part one. It covers the first half of the book. Stay tuned for part two, which I’ll publish within the next month.
History and the earth
For thousands of years, geography heavily influenced history.
Civilizations formed around water. Access to sea shipping routes meant money and power.
With the advent of the airplane, geography plays a smaller role in history.
As Durant writes, “The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology grows.”
I think he’s half right.
The influence of physical geographic factors will diminish. But the influence of digital geography will shape the course of history.
The companies who own the digital space where we spend most of our time—Google, Facebook, Amazon—these will be the companies who will dictate the coming chapters of our history books.
Key Takeaway: Geography has always played an influential role in history. But as technology increases, physical geography will be less influential than in the past.
Biology and history
Three realities of biology influence the course of history, even when we try to intervene.
One - Life is competition. We are greedy because our ancestors were greedy. If our ancestors weren’t greedy, they wouldn’t have survived, and we wouldn't exist.
Because we are greedy, we compete to capture all the resources we can.
Two - Life is selection. The strong survive. The smart survive. The people with the best resources survive.
This is why perfect freedom and perfect equality cannot coexist. If you are free, you will be unequal. If you are equal, you won’t be free.
People with below average ability desire equality. People with above average ability desire freedom.
Freedom will win because biology doesn’t permit equality.
Three - Life must breed. Nature favors those who reproduce abundantly, as natural selection requires a large population from which to select.
Only war, famine, and pestilence cull populations. But when they do, the populations that reproduce at the highest rates have the largest advantages.
Key Takeaway: True equality will never exist because it contradicts the laws of biology.
Race and history
Racial tensions are consistent throughout history.
Not surprisingly, a broad study of civilizations reveals all races are basically equal in ability.
Race doesn’t dictate what a civilization will be. Civilization is a result of geography, economy, politics, character, language, religion, morality, art, and many other components.
Race is a coincidental characteristic of a civilization, not a cause of a civilization being a certain way.
Racism is primarily derived from differences in acquired culture. The only way to reduce racism, writes Durant, is “a broadened education.”
Key Takeaway: Racism will always exist. The best way to reduce it is through education and exposure to other cultures.
Character and history
Over decades, centuries, and millenia, human character and conduct remains consistent.
All humans have a combination of six positive and six negative instincts. Each instinct has associated habits and feelings.
These character elements comprise the entire nature of humankind.
Because all humans have some combination of the same 12 instincts, conduct is consistent across human history.
More specifically, in a large enough group, people generally behave the same because the combination of their character traits are, more or less, identical.
The exception to the rule is when new situations arise which require new solutions. During these times, a great man, genius, or hero will emerge.
He only becomes a hero as a necessity of the times. And when he does, he changes the way society behaves.
Society is imitative. It only changes when external forces require a change, and then a new idea is proposed by a “hero.”
The majority will adopt the new idea when the minority proves it to be useful, but new ideas must go through the gauntlet before society accepts them and they’re written into history (think airplanes, internet, electric vehicles, possibly cryptocurrency).
Key Takeaway: All humans possess some combination of the same 12 instincts. Because human instincts are generally the same, large groups will generally behave similarly, which is why we see historical trends repeat across geographies and civilizations.
Morals and history
Morals exist throughout history, but specific morals change based on historical and environmental conditions.
Consider the following examples from three distinct eras:
In hunter-gatherer times, men died more often than women. The men who lived would have to reproduce with multiple women to further society (see biology and history section—life must breed). In this era, brutality, greed, and promiscuity were all good qualities by necessity.
When history shifted to agricultural societies, peace and industriousness became more valuable than violence and bravery. In turn, morals evolved.
Monogamy was moral because men and women were equal in number—men no longer died at much higher rates than women. They weren’t out hunting ferocious beasts or warring with neighboring tribes. Birth control became immoral because kids were economic assets.
Industrial society changed morals yet again. People could be independent because society provided means of income outside the family unit. However, independence meant less familial support, so people couldn’t support a family as young as they could before.
As a result, kids transformed from an economic asset to an economic liability, and birth control became acceptable.
We may be in a moral transition period from the past of agricultural and industrial societies to whatever comes next. As morals loosen and evolve, society may change in a way that brings back the stronger morals of agricultural times.
Key Takeaway: Conditions mold morals, and morals alter conditions. This cycle will continue throughout history.
Conclusion
Seeing the world through patterns is a useful way to make decisions about your life, business, and investments.
We can use the above takeaways as mental models to mold our mind. In turn, our perspectives will broaden, and we will make better decisions.
I’d love to hear how you apply The Lessons of History to your life.
Stay tuned for part two which will cover the second half of the book.
While writing this article, I found some great summaries of The Lessons of History. They’re in slightly different formats, so I think they add value even if you’ve already read my article:
