Scramblin' thru History

Is history one big lie?

 Dr. Benjamin Hartnell

What is past is prologue ... History is full of myths that have been re-told so often that they are mistaken as facts. Historians try to sift through these myths from multiple perspectives in order to uncover what really happened ... and learn from its lessons.

The span of recorded (or written down) history is over 5,000 years! As a result, much of the early stuff is poorly documented, biased, and... well... made up. Way back when, people believed that because it was written down before their time, it HAD to be true, and so they presented it to future generations as being fact.

Think about it... just because your father tells you a story that his father told him doesn't mean it actually happened that way. It's like fish tales told by fishermen in which they brag about the size of the prize fish they snagged.

 "So... there I was, reeling in this 3-foot bass. It was amazing."
However, as the years pass, the size (and type) of fish changes.
"So... there I was, starring down a 12-foot shark. It was either kill or be killed."

The same can be said about history. After all, since much of the history we have was recorded by the "winners", blind faith in the written word can be dangerous.
 
Much of the historical information we have is incomplete and, in some cases, incorrect. Except for the instances where we record events we personally witnessed, historical facts can only be known through secondary sources. Therefore, we have to approach much of history by first asking, "Who says so and why?"  (read full article)

Enduring Myths in World History

Lies Taught in History Class

Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl (HBO Special)  .

Rich Hall's "Inventing the Indian" (BBC4 Special)

 

(Re)writing History

History is mainly affected by the involvement of the role of power in its writing. History is always created by the winners. This means that the people who are on the winning end of any event will determine what the correct history will be. This can be seen with the example of Germany losing the World War I and their complete humiliation which directly lead to the rise of Hitler and in turn World War II.

It is because of all the untouched and undiscovered information that we still have related to the past that we cannot decipher it all and reach to proper conclusions about something.History is an ongoing discourse. One discourse leads to another and in turn engages it. This means that history is mainly an interpretation of the past events which in turn implies that history is a lie, because every historian’s interpretation of the same event is different.

The book 1984 by George Orwell shines further light on how power manipulates the opinions of ordinary people and how their lives are in turn affected. The way the Big Brother in the book takes control and makes sure that Winston does not do anything against him is actually how power works in reality as well. We see the common man coming into the pressure of those in power and giving up on their free will even in democratic countries. So in situations like that when not only the history and its writings are being manipulated but even the thoughts and perspectives of humans are being manipulated to their comforts, how can we expect to know the reality about the past.

"No matter how earnestly we study historical events
there will always be parts of the story that we do not know
and not kmowing these parts, the true story is impossible for us to know.

Trying to lay out a history is like playing solitare with a deck of 51 cards."

John Reder

History can be problematic in three main areas which include: epistemology, methodology and ideology. In epistemology they are concerned mainly about the objectivity of history and are always in the search of truth but in history discovering the truth is very difficult so this is where the problem arises. As the past is gone and there is no way that they can be checked against except the accounts of other historians which are their interpretations. On the other hand they can be checked against the oral sources which many of the historians do not take into consideration as they consider them to be not as reliable as the written/documented sources. At the same time historians are faced with problems in the fields of methodology and ideology.

Many a times when we give some event of history an overview, it does appear to be true, but once we go into the depth and excavate minute details we may not know what actually happened and what not. For example we know for a fact that World War I and II did take place when we go into the details of all the events that happened or not, there might be many meager events missed out as some historians might not consider it important.

We can never know the truth as the past is gone. All we have is the interpretations. History is an ongoing discourse. One leads to another, hence it’s a maze which never leads us to the truth majority of the times. For instance when looking at a landscape put of a window the historian may see it very differently as compared to a geologist, sociologist and so on. Also, the facts cannot and do not speak for themselves, instead they are given voice by the historians who decide to use those facts according to their context. So the same fact might be viewed upon differently by each historian. Facts are more like the play dough that is moulded and sculptured in any shape or form as liked by the historian. Many of the historians will have different viewpoints regarding the same issue, which means that there is no road in history that leads you to the truth.   (read full article)

Myths of the American Revolution

Myths of the American Civil War

Myths And Misconceptions About World War I

World War II Myths That Finally Need To Be Debunked