Background
The smell of an old book; the soft sound of rustling pages. This old history book holds so much more than just stories. It holds the life lessons from those in the past; and we can use these to our advantage. History helps us learn from our past; and without it, we are destined to repeat our history.
But, what if all of our recorded history was erased completely? What if we didn’t have that chance to learn from our mistakes? If history was erased; our world would be forever doomed.
Now, to write this, we need to make some assumptions. For now, let’s assume that our history is suddenly erased. We remember nothing historically. We know we are human, we know who we are, we know our language, and we know what our country is. That is all in this particular scenario that we would remember. From then on, all of our history would be recorded, but we would temporarily have to start over.
History has been recorded since the day humans learned to write. It was a way of life. If something important happened, it would be written on walls or slabs of stone. Generations after generations recorded such events, and if history was suddenly erased; all of our ancestors’ hard work would have been for nothing, been forever forgotten.
Firstly; world wars would probably happen again. Without memories of the atrocities that occurred, we would not know any better. After the wars, world leaders would have to be rechosen or reelected. Some systems of government may change. We could become a monarchy, England could become a Democratic Republic. It all depends, but most likely, new forms of government would be established, ones that don’t exist today. Religion would also be forgotten.
Archaeologists would relearn everything, too. Discovering the pyramids, finding dinosaur bones, and almost everything that humans and animals have created. It would mean relearning everything humanity knows. Relearning our history; it would be like a modern Renaissance! It cannot be said for certain how long it would take, but surely it would be a very long time to learn everything we know.
Societal Effect
There are many mistakes humanity has made in the past. From unethical studies, to wars, our history is less than pleasant. We’ve recorded everything to avoid it from happening again. But what if that one mistake we all swear we will never make becomes our new reality?
(Spines)
As we wake up on the day that history was erased, many wouldn’t know what to do. We would have textbooks full of our accomplishments that we don’t remember achieving. Most people would put two and two together. Something happened, and now these written documents are our only hope to relearn anything. Suddenly, a textbook is our most prized possession. We would read books about discoveries from our very beginning to the complex information we discovered recently. The problem we’d find is we wouldn’t be able to differentiate real from fake. If we had no memory of history, then saying we are living among aliens sounds just as real as us landing on the moon. We would have to use our best judgement on which sites have reliable information and if that information seems true. The only other way to find the truth is to redo all of the studies, achievements, and rediscover any evidence that proves a certain theory. We would, essentially, be reliving every moment in history to remember it. Although it would take centuries, it might be our only hope to return to the life we once had.
Governments would be another issue we would face. Technically the way a country’s government is set up would be forgotten considering how much history goes into making a country or government in the first place. As history is erased those in power wouldn’t exactly know why they are. They would know they are in power, but not be given a single reason why. How the government works would be another question many countries would be trying to relearn. Luckily, America has a written constitution to refer to, but we would also forget how to interpret it. All the court cases that we rely on to decide how something works would be forgotten and relearned as well. That in itself would take years to do.
Some of the worst moments in history happened during a war. Death, destruction, and chaos is the best definition for it. Each recorded tragedy helps us plan how to avoid another one in the future. If all of that history was erased, the most horrific wars would occur again. World War 1, World War 2, and the Vietnam War are only a few examples of what we would experience again. New wars could start since every country in the world would be stricken with confusion as to what had happened. There are two options, each country could come together to figure out what happened and plan a solution, or we would blame each other for it and try to solve it through fighting. Based on past experiences, we all know which one is more likely.
Religion is a significant part of history. Although it too would be erased. Now, this would be a lot harder to relearn. Many religious traditions are remembered by oral stories. Trying to get these traditions back would be much harder. Yes, there are plenty of written documents for many religions, but family traditions aren’t usually written down, but rather done out of habit for decades. If it isn’t written down, it is gone for good. Family traditions often are what creates the sense of belonging to a religion. Trying to worship without a long term connection wouldn’t feel the same. Especially since everyone would have to relearn their religion, many people would stop worshiping at all. Some customs would be forgotten for good and others would take a while to be reintegrated into the religion. So much chaos for the absence of something that isn’t even in our present.
Environmental Effect
As we step into this new life of confusion many questions await. One of the most important questions being, how did we get here? We know who we are and where we are but we don’t know the steps taken that got us here. History has its lights and darks, and the only way to learn the whole truth is to relive it, every step of the way.
All throughout history there have been wars. Whether it’s a fight for land, power, or freedom, war always comes with death and destruction. In this new reality with no evidence of the destruction that follows, people may turn to what they know to get what they want. We fight for something we desperately want, but in the process we lose something far more precious.
After every war devastation follows, however, not all of the effects are taken into account. War-fare leaves long-term effects on the environment. The dangerous chemicals along with leftover waste and rubble contaminate the nearby water and soil harming anyone or anything that uses it. Not only is the land unable to be used, due to the harsh chemicals, military equipment emits high amounts of greenhouse gasses. During some of the biggest wars CO2 levels spiked.
- World War One- Carbon levels in the atmosphere rose from about 280 ppm (parts per million) to 300-305 ppm, believed to be about a 10% increase.
- World War Two- Levels of carbon stated at 310-315 ppm increasing quickly in the late 1950s. In the 1960s carbon emissions were believed to increase by 0.8 ppm per year.
Not only do wars harm the land, it harms the species that live there. Habitat loss and deforestation greatly affect the biodiversity of life in these areas. It is estimated that in these areas of conflict around 90% of the species’ population decreases drastically. Some of the species that are affected by war are large mammals (due to habitat loss), endangered species (since they are already on the brink of extinction), and livestock (they might be used as food, starved, or overworked).
The Industrial Revolution was a turning point in human history, starting in the early 18th century and ending in the mid 19th century. The Industrial Revolution led humans to turn away hand-made products and rely more on machines. In this new reality we would be left with all these machines and no idea on how to use them. After much studying, we would most likely relearn how to use these machines. While this may help us, it will certainly have other effects on the environment. During the industrial revolution, CO2 levels increased by almost 50%, going from 280 ppm to 420 ppm. If we relived the Industrial Revolution, our already unstable environment would suffer severely. Massive amounts of deforestation would occur and pollution would happen to the water and air. Climate change would increase drastically and more natural resources would be used.
Overall, history getting erased would not only provide problems for us, every event we partake in again will destroy our environment. There is no way we can get to where we are now because our Earth won’t be the same.
As you can see, if all history was erased; the world would be drastically changed. From newly established governments to wars. Religions would be reestablished, and leaders reelected or rejected. Our history is important; now and as ever. It not only tells the stories of our past, but it defines humanity. It defines who we are. History will go on to define other species even when we are gone. It never ends.
