The short work of verse which precedes the essay sets the stage for the concept that will be developed over its course: the individual is part of the collective which shares a “universal mind” that is constructed of the written history of the world. The story of history was written by the human mind and it is the responsibility of all to read it in order that they may better understand themselves and their place within it.
While history is a story written by the mind, Emerson asserts that literature is the record of the universal character. This means that is through stories, myths, legends, poems, dramatic works and all literary expressions that men find portraits of themselves. The unifying element of history and literature is the pursuit of knowledge of the individual as it has been recorded, shaped, forms and delineated through the universal mind.
Because history is constructed of facts, but facts are recorded by the human mind, history is not just always subjective, but can never be purely objective. In fact, Emerson asserts that history as a recorded event does not actually exist; there is only biography which by definition is a subjective written account of the events constructing a history.
The study and recording of historical events is also highly dependent upon the subjective distinctions people make when creating associational links. The desire when looking to the past is to discover causation behind effect. The problem is that while causation is naturally associational, the search for that association can be too limited by an inherent desire to find what one is looking for rather than one is not looking for. The association because a cause and its effect may seem logical on its surface, but the genuine link may exist deeply beneath that surface and remain unknown because it was not looked for. This failure to understand the roots of historical change is further undermined by the tendency hardwired into the human brain to look for likenesses to the point of even seeing sameness in things that aren’t really there. Even more problematic is the fact that nature is so repetitive and does produce so much likenesses that this is thought to be the natural order.
The result of this desire to see sameness and stick with surface associations between cause and effect has been a history of art and literature which seeks replication. The natural history of the world has thus been constantly repeated in the history written by the universal mind through art, literature, architecture and verse. Thus, even the majestic artistic greatness of something like the Dome of St. Peter is in the end but a “lame” copy of the divine model which inspired its creation. Because history is record of repetition attempts to find likeness in pursuit of self-knowledge, even the most commonplace experiences of daily life for a pattern of converting the past into a symbol or sign to facilitate understanding in the present. This explains why it is so easy to see clouds in the sky that look like angels (or, to use a more modern analogy, to find the face of Jesus in the searing of a tortilla). Taken from the commonplace to the zenith of the unique, it also explains why the spires topping Gothic churches resemble forest trees rising to the sky. Also exemplified in these and other examples is a truism: the copy is never as perfect as that which inspired it.
This tendency of the natural world to produce likenesses which is then recreated by mankind is then taken to its largest expression in which the fundamental structure of civilization is divided into two essential natures: nomadism and agriculture. Nomads responded to what nature provided with the effect of constant movement engendered by negative forces of causation preventing permanent settlement whereas exactly the opposite is true of societies where the effect of positive causation was to permanently settle and exploit the land. The two oppositional ideologies have become replicated into the nature of man which manifests itself in one of two distinct personalities: those who place a premium on freedom to move at will over security and those who prefer security over freedom to wander. The lesson to be gained from this example is that the individual always sees his own state of mind in everything around him; history is a recording of his own biography because it has served to form and shape his self-identity and self-awareness. As such, a person’s own individual history is often but a replication of the history of civilization.
For instance, that period of youth when one is focused on their bodily appearance and seeks perfection in health and appearance is but replication of philosophical foundation of the ancient Greeks who art reveals this obsession as a dominant aspect of their own period. In much the same way, each person will seek to find a connection of likeness from his own time which can be connected to the age of chivalry. These individual experiences of collectively connecting to past civilizations are universalized through the processes of literature. Familiarity with ancient myths, instructional fables, the warnings offered by fairy tales and the lessons on morality contained with folks tales as well epic poems and dramatic interpretations of historical events all serve to create a sort of philosophical transmigration of the soul from one person to another down through history. Each shares the same backstory because each has become familiar with the stories that define humanity. These written accounts are mankind’s means of trying to replicate what nature does, but which man can only copy.
This is the theme of the essay which Emerson sums up in his final paragraphs. History is the book written by the human mind in an attempt to find correlation with nature. It is only through finding associational likeness with the universalities of the past that each person can make sense of himself as an individual. Nature is history as event, but history is mankind’s written account of making this sense of his own place within that nature. One is objective and beyond man’s control while the other is attempt to do so.
