Further Reflections on the Meaning of History

"History is a record of exploded ideas" - British Admiral John Fisher, as quoted in "To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World" by Arthur Herman.

If history is as, Fisher said, nothing but a record of failed ideas than what does it mean to study history? Are we trying to learn why these mistakes were made so we can avoid the same path, or just avoid being exploded along with the ideas?

For those that don't know but do care, Fisher was the architect of the concept of the British Navy in the pre-World War One period and a mentor to Winston Churchill. It was he who forced the British navy to adopt submarines, torpedoes and the concept of the fast attack battleship. His naval policies are often held at least partially to blame for the rise in in Anglo-German antagonism and the eventual arms race, a subject of no small interest to myself (and one I think that is well worth studying, given the possibility of an arms race between the US and either [or G-d forbid, both] Russia and/or China).

First posting!

I've started a blog, I'm not exactly sure why, probably because I'm spending too much time sitting around my room reading and I miss being able to talk about readings in class, the library and all sorts of other places.

I think I'll probably use this to ramble about what I've been reading, in current events and in books.

The title comes from the opening quote of a book I've long enjoyed titled "Tactics of Mistake" by Gordon Dickson. The full quote is "Trouble rather the tiger in his lair than the sage amongst his books. For to you Kingdoms and their armies are things mighty and enduring, but to him they are but toys of the moment, to be overturned by the flicking of a finger..."