I have pretty strong conviction that most of the “stories of history” that we know and recite today are likely to be heavily altered renditions of the past. We are so concerned with the ‘Fake News’ of today…just imagine how corrupt and inconsistent our world’s history must be.
Today, we have the internet, a democratized layer of supposed to be accountability. It transparently records events and distributes information.
200 years ago? 2000 years ago? No such thing existed. History was RECORDED by individuals and passed down.
We study the winners’ versions of history. And though this is a trite expression, I think it is underratedly true.
We know so little about the reality of the past. We study the “macro-transitions over hundred year periods.”
We glaze over the murders of millions. We skip the selfish actions of rulers who simply wanted more power and fame.
I am really interested in the power of signal, effectively navigating the truth. And I think that the accuracy of the stories of history must be terribly lacking.
Also published on Medium.