THE MAIN BENEFIT OF THE STUDY OF HISTORY IS TO DISPEL THE ILLUSION THAT PEOPLE LIVING NOW ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN EARLIER TIMES.

The present moment is dependent on the past and gives direction to the future. We, as humans, have reached this day and age because of the history behind us. The prompt suggests that removing the illusion that we are fundamentally different from our ancestors is the paramount benefit of history. I believe that this statement is partially true as there are many benefits of history and to coin one of them as the most beneficial is not possible. Making people realize that people living now are in essence similar to our ancestors, despite the superficial differences, is one of many major benefits of history for the following reasons. Firstly, the study of history helps us realize the vast difference in the lifestyle of people and the similarity in their emotions, character, and essence. For instance, terrorists have always been present and although the type of terrors they use might have ranged from brutal massacre to modern-day cyber attack, the reason why they perform such action - usually rooted in deep hate and rebellion- have been the same. This holds true for the sages and spiritual seekers as well. Throughout history, there have been many spiritual teachers utilizing different methods and meditation techniques, yet the goal of their teaching - to reach enlightenment - has been the same. Similarly, people have lived inside different houses ranging from caves to huts to concrete buildings but the reason for creating such buildings has always been the same: to seek shelter. Thus despite the obvious differences in the ways people have lived their lives throughout history, their emotions, essence, and mentality based on which they act upon has been quite similar, proving that the belief that people living now are significantly different from people who lived in the past is a fallacy. In contrast, history shows us the different beliefs, rules, and lifestyle people had and why they adopted them. This gives a deeper understanding of the development of human behavior and their thought process. For instance, in the past racism prevailed in America. There were different rules for people with white skin color to people with black skin color. Black people were believed to be inferior because of their skin tone and even treated as slaves and commodities. Although such slavery and racism is not prevalent today, such inhuman and brutal practice of the past shows us how our view of what is "right" and what is "wrong" has changed from the past. Furthermore, due to our enormous, we can utilize the past knowledge to make better decisions, so that we can be aware of the possible consequences and not make the same mistakes of the past. Most of our ideas have usually been thought of before, thus we can use the historical knowledge as our guiding light. For example, while forming and implementing new laws, we can look at the similar laws that have been implemented in the past, the shortcomings of those laws, how those laws were successful or unsuccessful, and improve upon them. Thus the practice of using past knowledge to make better future decisions is a major benefit of history. In conclusion, although removing the illusion that our ancestors were very different from us is a major benefit of the study of history, it provides other benefits which are as important if not more than that. Our enormous history can help us make better future decisions, act as a refrence point and help us deepen our understanding of how we have evolved our beliefs, rules and lifestyle. Study of history has proven to be the building block of a more prosperous and efficient future.