Joys of Compounding
Episode 23 The Lessons of History
Joys of Compounding

Episode 23: The Lessons of History

Joys of Compounding

Episode 23

The Lessons of History

Patrick Griffin is the former chair of the Department of History at the University of Notre Dame. We cover why studying history is so important for developing good pattern recognition, his favorite lessons from heroes and revolutions through history, and how history guides the ways we should think about progress.

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Show Notes

(00:00:00) Welcome to the Joys of Compounding

(00:01:17) The Importance of History

(00:04:14) The Historian's Toolkit

(00:07:17) Will Durant's Journey

(00:09:18) Lessons from 'The Lessons of History'

(00:23:08) Human Nature and History

(00:34:29) The Role of Economy in History

(00:38:01) The American Revolution in Context

(00:38:20) The Irony of National Exceptionalism

(00:39:00) Revolutions and National Belonging

(00:42:17) Geography and the Age of Revolution

(00:43:50) Human Ingenuity and Overcoming Geography

(00:45:53) The Role of Common People in History

(00:47:12) The Immigrant Experience and Personal Reflections

(00:50:49) Yankee Sullivan: A Prizefighter's Tale

(00:55:55) Boxing as a Metaphor for Human Nature

(00:58:49) The Inevitability of War

(01:03:10) The Concept of Progress

(01:07:14) The Power of Compounding in History

The Lessons of History

Introduction

Rick
Today, we explore The Lessons of History, by Will and Ariel Durant, a book that over the years has been repeatedly recommended to us by some of the world's most compelling investors, leaders, thinkers, and builders. For as long as we have taught art of investing, it has been one of just two books that's required reading for our students.

The other, by the way, is The Outsiders, written by another Will, our friend Will Thorndike, who we also hope to have join on a future episode, so stay tuned for that. Now I imagine that most of you out there are already plenty busy with all that life is throwing your way, so it seems reasonable to first ask why even commit marginal time and energy to the further study of history.

And I think at least part of the answer I would offer is that embedded in the past are learnings and strategies for how to make sense of and better align with the way that the world actually has worked. And perhaps even more importantly, how it's likely to keep working going forward. To quote the late great Charlie Munger, who was also a student of Durant, there is no better teacher than history in determining the future.

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