NWEZE REUBEN N.
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
EBONYI STATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IKWO.
Abstract.
The term a historical may be understood to mean lacking in historical sense or tradition. This means in practice that the person or group of persons concerned do not exhibit in their thoughts and actions a sense or consciousness of their historical past and the influence it should have on those thoughts and actions. Man from the moment he became a thinking and reflecting human being, homo sapiens, has tended to refer to his past experience in deciding on his present and future line of action. He has, on the whole, tended to be guided the desired results. Hence the old saying that: Experienceta decet (Experience is the best teacher or teaches) history, the embodiment of experience is a storehouse of guiding principles to and concrete examples of proper or wise human conduct. In deed, man did not always act by the guide of his past experience. This might be due to a number of factors. Firstly, the actor might be so blinded by the object of his desire or ambition, the desire to enjoy in the here and now, that he would not want to know of what might follow after. In other words, he would not heed the voice of reason if that voice dictated a course different from his cherished objective and his desired line of action. Another contributory factor is the assumption or belief that he, the present actor, might be luckier than those others before him who met with unhappy consequences. Another factor is faulty analysis of the issue at hand. This could arise from the intellectual shortcomings of the analysist, inadequacy of data relevant to the analysis or even external factors exercising undue influence on the analytical exercise.
Keywords: Levels of Historical Consciousness, A Historical Behavior. The Nigeria Case, History and Historian’s Contribution to A historical Behavior and Historical Mindedness.
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