Dear Editor:
I was astonished and gratified to read Theodore Von Laue’s recent article in Perspectives, “Responsibility Over Mindset” (Viewpoints, Jan., 1988). For the first time I felt solidarity with someone who shared my point of view: that most historical research (and teaching, I might add) is a sheer waste, mere antiquarianism; very interesting perhaps, but meaningless. Yet dissertations, books, conference papers are duly churned out largely with the aim of promoting one’s career rather than the common good. Historians have something to say and a unique perspective to offer in resolving the pressing problems of our day. To ignore the present in teaching or in historical research is simply a luxury that one cannot afford. But historians continue to be comfortable careerists who cannot or will not see mankind’s con temporary problems for all the trivia which they bury themselves and their students in.
Sina Dubovoj
Arlington, Virginia
