“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, from the essay "History", 1841.
The knowledge that comes from the experience of being present to someone, something, or some place, is greater than the knowledge that comes solely from reading about it. What’s more, to truly live in and understand ourselves and the world we must understand that history and knowledge as inseparable from ourselves. There is no way to truly make use of our knowledge, without relating each new learning to ourselves and our own lives. In each person lies all of history; this is what Emerson spoke about when he mused that the acorn holds within itself everything that would become “the creation of a thousand forests”. In the same way, he says that the first human held within themselves all the necessary ingredients that would become all democratic and autocratic civilizations, all arts, essays, poems, all architecture, all marvels and atrocities.
It’s a disservice to oneself to fall into a state where history is viewed as if through a pane of glass; history and present are not to be detached from nor dissociated, they are to be lived directly and through doing so, we gain greater understanding that is actionable. Alongside Emerson I argue that embodied history is the only way to effectually study and utilize history.
In Emerson’s way of thinking, it’s of an utmost importance that we empathize with history so as to truly live it’s truth. That is to say, when we see the worlds history and current events flashing in front of our eyes, we have to allow these insights to feel innately connected to our own lives. According to Emerson, “There is no age or state of society or mode of action in history, to which there is not somewhat corresponding in his life.” All that exists, exists within you, me, and anyone willing to see such a truth. In example, this means that when we read about Ruby Bridges, we must feel the tension of being a young black child, walking into a hostile white school during the start of desegregation. When listening to the accounts of former Nazi’s, we must feel the pressing force of fascism and the “path of least resistance” that is presented, or the intoxication of power that allowed common people to contribute to what in retrospect, appears obviously evil. We each contain the contents of history within ourselves, when we really look.
Pulling Emerson’s ideas from the past through the present and into the future, how do Emerson’s words stay relevant to today (February 2025 CE)? Today, information technology makes it ever easier for things to meld together: past, present, and future; truth and fabrication; opinion and fact; honesty and deceit. The dominant world of technology is also quickly approaching the moment of Singularity spoken about since long before AI made it into the mainstream collective consciousness. I know that this moment in the epochs of time only seem exceptional to me because I am living in them. While doing my best to take this bias into consideration, I still dare to make the claim that now more than ever it is critical to understand history from a personal, reflective place within the seat of our souls, lest we become detached observers of our individual and collective lives.
Emerson says in "History", “He should see that he can live all history in his own person. He must sit solidly at home, and not suffer himself to be bullied by kings or empires, but know that he is greater than all the geography and all the government of the world…” I interpret this as an invitation to follow ones own intuition, and within our own relationship with history we can act. Our ancestors of intellect, blood, or country, are all present with us. We must allow history to live through us, and us to live through the history that informs us.
Some will say this is too esoteric or abstract. I would argue that the passionate study of history (as opposed to clinical, detached study) is the only true way to learn from history in a way that makes ones learning actionable. History can then be a way of understanding ourselves, and in turn our self reflection can help us to understand history. To continually feel the presence of our collective human and earthly history, we can act from a deeply informed and empathetic place. Do not let anyone’s opinions of your intelligence or education dissuade you from creating a personal and complex understanding of where we come from.
“History no longer shall be a dull book. It shall walk incarnate in every just and wise man.”
— All quotes from the essay written by Ralph Waldo Emerson titled "History." in the collection titled Essays, First Series, published in 1841. —