How do you define "interesting" in history?

[bushbush]

I am asking everyone's standard of "interesting" when studying history.

for me:
-lots of wars, wars, and wars, of different scales, lots of surprise tactics, dramatic victories and defeats
-colorful personalities
-colorful events between personalities, love affair, backstabing, stories of betrayal, stories of loyalty, and etc
-meaningful lessons for the future generations
-history of people from a part of the world i have never been to, or history of people who have already disappeared in history or changed dramatically that their old customs are not to be seen anymore
-events that seriously altered the geopolitical landscape of the world (i.e. ww2)

these are some things that can make me hooked to the history of an era, a country or a group of people....what are yours?

[D.B. Cooper]

That last one, events that changed the world.

[Exarch]

different mentalities and value systems
what they believed in is really interesting

also, historical sciences,
like song dynasty alchemy and gunpowder

[Iskender-bey]

I just like to learn about neglected persons or events in history. This often causes me to neglect the well known ones though!

[VOP2288]

Not to make a seemingly rather simple topic more confusing but it's funny - I actually had a conversation not too long ago about the concept of "interest" in history. My father has always been rooted in the field of science, a subject where essentially everything is connected (much like history), however he just couldn't understand how I (a history major looking to be a history teacher sometime soon) did not take interest in the entire spectrum of history. I tried to explain to him that the subject is like anything else, people will prefer some aspects over another but he still could not understand - him being as intelligent as he is he finds EVERYTHING interesting and worth knowing/contemplating.

Anyway, that was a random rant...onto actually answering your question.

Personally, I take interest in predominantly military history. I love studying everything about warfare - from the social/political/economic causes, to the day-by-day actions of armies, the battles, the tactics, the weapons, and even the mind set of the soldier or civilian, and then the aftermath of the war. However, this interest doesn't spread the entirety of history but rather specific wars or time periods. For me it's the warfare of Ancient Greece and Rome, some Medieval, but mostly 20th century - especially WWII which I have more or less researched through constant reading/writing/and literal research for junior high/high school/college courses over the last near decade.

Beyond military history, as a result of it, I will take interest in the nations/politics/peoples/etc of those nations involved in previously mentioned wars and conflicts.

[bushbush]

Personally, I take interest in predominantly military history. I love studying everything about warfare - from the social/political/economic causes, to the day-by-day actions of armies, the battles, the tactics, the weapons, and even the mind set of the soldier or civilian, and then the aftermath of the war. However, this interest doesn't spread the entirety of history but rather specific wars or time periods. For me it's the warfare of Ancient Greece and Rome, some Medieval, but mostly 20th century - especially WWII which I have more or less researched through constant reading/writing/and literal research for junior high/high school/college courses over the last near decade.

Beyond military history, as a result of it, I will take interest in the nations/politics/peoples/etc of those nations involved in previously mentioned wars and conflicts.

I do feel guilty getting excited reading about millions of people being killed in the most brutal way though. But to be fair, if there was no conflict, no war and no slaughters, history would be quite boring to read.

[VOP2288]

I do feel guilty getting excited reading about millions of people being killed in the most brutal way though. But to be fair, if there was no conflict, no war and no slaughters, history would be quite boring to read.

Well yeah, lol, who in their right mind wants to research the economic structure of India or something, or the evolution of houses throughout time...I mean, I'm sure someone takes interest in that kind of random stuff but it's just not for me.

[John I Tzimisces]

well, "interesting" is a very personal thing. To me, something's interesting not based on evidence available at all: there's plenty of evidence for, say, early asian civilizations, but it's not my interest. There's a ton of information on greeks and romans, but I am interested in those. There's hardly any remnants of phrygians or urartians, and those pique my interest. And so on and so forth.

I suppose it's a personal taste. For me, the stuff that has a plethora of evidence is certainly worth preserving and passing down, while the stuff that doesn't simply begs research and archeological digs. It keeps you thinking.

[Ahlerich]

people interested in war and military history only i usually consider having only a superficial interest in the matter

[Ludicus]

I am asking everyone's standard of "interesting" when studying history.

Good question.
The history of the relationship between one species and the rest of nature; the history of the environment refashioned to suit human uses; the history of how civilizations established mutual contact:- it seems to be hard for any civilizations to survive at a high level of material achievement except in contact with others (unless they are very big...)

[MemnonOfRhodes]

for me:
-lots of wars, wars, and wars, of different scales, lots of surprise tactics, dramatic victories and defeats
-colorful personalities
-colorful events between personalities, love affair, backstabing, stories of betrayal, stories of loyalty, and etc
-meaningful lessons for the future generations
-history of people from a part of the world i have never been to, or history of people who have already disappeared in history or changed dramatically that their old customs are not to be seen anymore
-events that seriously altered the geopolitical landscape of the world (i.e. ww2)

-Yes
-No
-A bit
-No
-Yes
-Yes

I like the Downfall stories...

[Copperknickers II]

Rich culture and folklore, change, rise of a new superpower, perfection of something, and the results of idealism are all interesting.

[MemnonOfRhodes]

perfection of something

Example? (interested,not sarcasm)

[Copperknickers II]

Example? (interested,not sarcasm)

Well, attempted perfection. Attempts at Utopian societies, Ashoka, Russia and Communism in general, and of course religions.

[Yue Fei]

Conflict in general is what interests me most, and that's not even limited to military conflicts, but rather political upheavals, treatment of lower classes, etc. I do like studying "peaceful" eras as well, but when it comes to warfare, there's really nothing like it. From my experience, even people who are bored by history are fascinated when they study anything related to warfare.

[MemnonOfRhodes]

Conflict in general is what interests me most, and that's not even limited to military conflicts, but rather political upheavals, treatment of lower classes, etc. I do like studying "peaceful" eras as well, but when it comes to warfare, there's really nothing like it. From my experience, even people who are bored by history are fascinated when they study anything related to warfare.

Not really i enjoy Mythology (Greek,Nordic,or Egyptian)