A Word About History

[doc benway]

I recently watched a video by Alan Moore on magic via a TaoBums link. It led me to read his novel, Voice of the Fire. Here is a brief excerpt I like from the final chapter which puts me in mind of some discussion in another thread about history. Don't know if this will stimulate much thought or discussion but it certainly made me think.

 

"History, unendingly revised and reinterpreted, is seen upon examination as merely a different class of fiction; becomes hazardous if viewed as having any innate truth beyond this. Still, it is a fiction that we must inhabit. Lacking any territory that is not subjective, we can only live upon the map. All that remains in question is whose map we choose, whether we live within the world's insistent texts or else replace them with a stronger language of our own."

[Marblehead]

Yes, history is written by the winners. Luckily in the more free parts of the world we have access to information that is written by the losers as well. There are still many parts of the world where one has access to only what their government allows its people to read.

 

If we understand this we have at least taken the first step in trying to find the real truth concerning an event.

[mewtwo]

Yes, history is written by the winners. Luckily in the more free parts of the world we have access to information that is written by the losers as well. There are still many parts of the world where one has access to only what their government allows its people to read.

 

If we understand this we have at least taken the first step in trying to find the real truth concerning an event.

 

 

Cough *north korea* cough

 

I meen seriously the leader of the country says he was hatched form a egg or somehting like that.

[Jetsun]

Cough *north korea* cough

 

I meen seriously the leader of the country says he was hatched form a egg or somehting like that.

 

Apparently he got twelve holes in one at the new golf course in North Korea but getting reliable information about there is difficult, much in the western media depict it as some sort of hell hole but one article I read recently said that no-one there really wants all the western things like cars and mobile phones because they have never had any of it so they don't know any different, plus many people get reliable heath care and housing so maybe it's not so bad.

 

With regards to history I did a history degree and when I did my dissertation I more or less had my conclusion in my head from the beginning then found the evidence to fit it, which is also how many of the history books are written, especially with many revisionist historians as you can gather evidence to make a convincing argument for almost any conclusion about history if you are determined enough.

[Sloppy Zhang]

With regards to history I did a history degree and when I did my dissertation I more or less had my conclusion in my head from the beginning then found the evidence to fit it, which is also how many of the history books are written, especially with many revisionist historians as you can gather evidence to make a convincing argument for almost any conclusion about history if you are determined enough.

 

I've found I've used that strategy a lot in my academic career- it's certainly more time efficient to do that than it is to read through hundreds of different texts and come up with some new synthesis of the material.

 

It's why I, personally, have found some of the most thought provoking historians to be professors on tenure and hobbyists. They have the time, inclination, and find it leisurely enough to read through the obscure stuff without the pressure of having to churn out some material.

 

Now as we're being critical, let's not forget to be critical about our OWN culture and our own methods. As the History channel has started to say, let's look at the "history made every day". I've taken a couple courses on media and journalism criticism. Basically, one of the other things our fast paced culture has done has urged news reporters to churn out a story without doing all the research or checking out all the facts. Case in point- all of the conflicting accounts of Osama bin Laden's death. Where he was shot, why, how many times, etc etc etc. Story comes out, revised story comes out, revision to the revised story, etc etc etc.

 

And if there's no reason to, why would you have to revise a story? It would only make you look bad and ruin your own reputation, so you gloss over mistakes. And then those go on the record book. And then it comes out that you were wrong, but the story has been passed around so often by so many people that by the time the truth comes out... what can you do? It's really too late to do anything about it. Case in point- Facebook or Apple. People realize that Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs aren't the upfront, honest business people we like to think they are. I can't tell you how many people have said "after watching the Social Network movie, I'm going to quit facebook!" only to go back to it in a couple of days.

 

As with religions and martial arts, people will pick the history that they like, the one that makes them look good, the one that reinforces the way that they live and the thoughts that they already have. People aren't looking for the truth- they are looking for things that will help them sleep at night.

[Marblehead]

Cough *north korea* cough

 

I meen seriously the leader of the country says he was hatched form a egg or somehting like that.

 

Yep. And Buddha was born from the head of an elephant and Jesus was born from a virgin. So many stories.