Use History Like a Tool: An Unconventional Guide to Reading the Past and Managing the Future

by Steven Levi

If you really want to use history like a tool in your day-to-day survival, you must understand the underlying principles of history and how to use those principles. Doing this requires that you see history differently–as something other than names and dates. You need to see history as motion. In other words, people and countries armies and economies move through time toward goals. These goals can be political, philosophical, religious, economic or anything else. In this book, we'll consider the various laws of historical motion. In USE HISTORY LIKE A TOOL, Levi goes on to examine the history of Western Civilization in a non-chronological way. His organizing theme is a series of rules that he believes control the movement of history, including · Motion Looks for Niches · Choices Define Circumstances (Not Vice-versa) · Prohibition Never Works · All Systems Ossify · Economies Are Built from the Bottom Up · Most People Think "What's In It for Me?" · Entertainment Is Important Showing how these rules apply to people and history, Levi combines his versions of well-known historical events (Rome's Fall, the Italian Renaissance, the American Revolution, the Great Migration, the Cold War, etc.) with mundane events from everyday life (dealing with office politics, hiring the right people, making good financial decisions). It's an interesting–and unusual–read.

Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

History, that bane of many a high school and college education, is presented in a different and much more interesting way than in school. History is more than just names and dates; it is about the motion of people and events. This book also looks at a series of "laws" that anyone can use in their daily lives.

An important aspect of history is that it is best studied while it is moving. Real life is always in motion, whether it is your life, politics, economics or problems before the local Board of Education. But, do not mistake motion for movement. Movement means things are actually being done, while motion makes it look like things are being done (meetings are held, reports are filed, etc, but nothing more).

Through crystal clear hindsight, we can see that a certain decision or policy was a terrible idea, and assume that the people making that decision could also see it. Bad ideas are usually hard to spot, and all we can see is the result of one decision. Maybe there were no better alternatives at the time.

The best way to slow progress on a certain issue is to appoint a committee to study the issue. To sidetrack an issue for a long time, use the Law of Co-Equal Adversaries, and have two committees counteract each other. The next stage after non-movement is ossification, where everything grinds to a halt. The Law of Attendance says that being present is more important than doing anything productive. The Law of Editing comes into force when the person on top changes the rules in the middle to prevent change from happening. A good way to bring things to a halt is put all of a group’s resources behind solving the wrong problem; switching from a problem that Can be solved to one that Cannot be solved. Don’t ignore the "classics," like What’s In It For Me?

This is a fascinating book. It also makes a good business book; if you recognize your company in here, Beware. Those who enjoyed history class in school will enjoy this book. Those who hated history class in school should also read this; it does a good job of showing that history is a lot more than names, dates and dead people.