Yes, movies with zombies and kisses in the rain are fun to watch. But where do these cheesy, outrageous, seemingly bizarre plots come from?

We’ve all had to take some form of a history or English class, but that only scratches the surface. Today’s economic policies, movies, medicine, and even technology are all firmly rooted in the classics of another time.

Our economics classes use the title Heart of Darkness (a book published in 1899, by Joseph Conrad) as a catchy title for documentaries-but also because it holds weight in regards to the heartbreaking issues still going on in third world countries since the turn of the 20th century.

Everyone’s favorite class, b-core, spends months on trans-humanism. It’s inherently about the technology facing us in the immediate and far future, but it too is rooted in epic poems from hundreds of years ago about the progression of the human form.

All the Nicholas Sparks books and movies you hate to love and love to hate? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Here’s looking at you, Jane Austen (and every other rom-com).

Shakespeare’s plays still get press time, interpreted over and over again. In a recent Paris Fashion Week show, the inspiration was Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

The political processes, ideals, and philosophies of today can be traced back to ancient Rome and Greece. Thomas More’s Utopia portrays an “ideal” society. His work also led to the concept of a dystopian society, all the rage among Hollywood and conspiracy theorists of today.

For all you medical students, how helpful would at least being familiarized with Greek and Latin have helped as you take your classes and prepare for medical school? Hippocratic writings from 500 BC and medical encyclopedias from the first century AD are still the basis for modern medicine.

The phrase “history repeats itself” is all too true, and the relevance of these old books, dead languages, and over-debated philosophies is more important than ever in light of our rapidly changing society. Our world feels smaller than ever; the acumen to discern truth versus passing trends and the ability to stand firm in the wisdom of the ages should be treasured.