Topic: How different facts of the same event shape your understanding of the world (Read 116 times)
March 04, 2019, 12:08:58 AM
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March 04, 2019, 12:05:14 AM
History is anything but agreeable. It is a collection of facts deemed to be the most meaningful by historians exchanging different, often conflicting information. But how does this inevitable clash of facts affect your understanding of historical events and ultimately your view of the world?
Before answering that question, let’s take a look at how historical facts and events are documented.
Generally, history is an attempt to memorialize and preserve the past using memories as the primary source of information. History is essentially a collection of memories, analyzed and reduced to meaningful conclusions. Since memories have limitations, facts can be distorted or augmented by entirely new details as the events recede further into the past. This results in a plurality of histories (different facts about the same event).
When historians working on the same problem establish different facts and conclusions regarding an event, it affects the people’s interpretation and understanding of the event. First, the conflicting accounts force the audience to ask if there’s even a correct version of events. People lose confidence in the power of history to tell an unfettered, impartial and objective truth about what happened in the past. The effect of this is that we will never know the whole truth about the happenings of the past, and as a result, we may never learn from the past or prepare for the possibilities of the future.
Second, different facts of the same events can influence your understanding of the world by obscuring the truth about key issues in society. Because of confirmation bias, we intend to listen more to information that confirms the beliefs we already have. Through this bias, you will find that you often favor the facts that confirm your previously held beliefs. Take the global warming debate, for example. Instead of listening to the opposing side and considering all facts in a logical and rational manner, people tend to look at things that reinforce what they think is true.
Confirmation bias prevents each of us from being open-mind and seeking out objective facts before coming to conclusions. This can greatly influence how we view and understand the world around us.
That said, if we know about different facts of the same event, we can make efforts to embrace both versions, by working to be curious about opposing facts and really listening to what others have to say and why. While it is impossible for historians to reach same conclusions all the time—largely because we are all different people and our insights are different and the histories we write are personal—there’s still much we can do to ensure facts of historical events are not distorted.
If history can influence our understanding of the world, then accounts of current and future events must be documented as accurately as possible. These records should also be kept and preserved in a secure manner free from manipulation, deletion and censorship by a centralized authority. This is exactly what Historia stands for.
Historia’s mission is to incentivize the contribution of accurate historical events that will be reviewed by a diverse, globally distributed pool of voters. We have built a blockchain-based platform for recording and preserving accurate accounts of history and facts to prevent perversion and distortion. With Historia blockchain solution, facts regarding historical events are validated as accurate accounts and recorded in an immutable database making it difficult for this information to be altered or deleted. More importantly, our solution helps to ensure that no different facts of the same event occur because when the digital records are altered, an audit trail is created and we are able to know exactly what was edited.
Please do not forget to visit, join, follow, and like us on:
Historia Website
Historia Twitter
Historia Discord
Historia Reddit
Historia on Github
Historia is a community project. The influence of any one superpower does not endure in Historia. The project is for the greater good of the global community with allegiance to no one except the everlasting truth of how it actually happened. If you would like to be a part Historia discussion, join us on Discord and let us know your thoughts. All spectrum of opinions and facts wanted, come all.
Originally published at blog.historia.network on March 04, 2019.
Before answering that question, let’s take a look at how historical facts and events are documented.
Generally, history is an attempt to memorialize and preserve the past using memories as the primary source of information. History is essentially a collection of memories, analyzed and reduced to meaningful conclusions. Since memories have limitations, facts can be distorted or augmented by entirely new details as the events recede further into the past. This results in a plurality of histories (different facts about the same event).
When historians working on the same problem establish different facts and conclusions regarding an event, it affects the people’s interpretation and understanding of the event. First, the conflicting accounts force the audience to ask if there’s even a correct version of events. People lose confidence in the power of history to tell an unfettered, impartial and objective truth about what happened in the past. The effect of this is that we will never know the whole truth about the happenings of the past, and as a result, we may never learn from the past or prepare for the possibilities of the future.
Second, different facts of the same events can influence your understanding of the world by obscuring the truth about key issues in society. Because of confirmation bias, we intend to listen more to information that confirms the beliefs we already have. Through this bias, you will find that you often favor the facts that confirm your previously held beliefs. Take the global warming debate, for example. Instead of listening to the opposing side and considering all facts in a logical and rational manner, people tend to look at things that reinforce what they think is true.
Confirmation bias prevents each of us from being open-mind and seeking out objective facts before coming to conclusions. This can greatly influence how we view and understand the world around us.
That said, if we know about different facts of the same event, we can make efforts to embrace both versions, by working to be curious about opposing facts and really listening to what others have to say and why. While it is impossible for historians to reach same conclusions all the time—largely because we are all different people and our insights are different and the histories we write are personal—there’s still much we can do to ensure facts of historical events are not distorted.
If history can influence our understanding of the world, then accounts of current and future events must be documented as accurately as possible. These records should also be kept and preserved in a secure manner free from manipulation, deletion and censorship by a centralized authority. This is exactly what Historia stands for.
Historia’s mission is to incentivize the contribution of accurate historical events that will be reviewed by a diverse, globally distributed pool of voters. We have built a blockchain-based platform for recording and preserving accurate accounts of history and facts to prevent perversion and distortion. With Historia blockchain solution, facts regarding historical events are validated as accurate accounts and recorded in an immutable database making it difficult for this information to be altered or deleted. More importantly, our solution helps to ensure that no different facts of the same event occur because when the digital records are altered, an audit trail is created and we are able to know exactly what was edited.
Please do not forget to visit, join, follow, and like us on:
Historia Website
Historia Twitter
Historia Discord
Historia Reddit
Historia on Github
Historia is a community project. The influence of any one superpower does not endure in Historia. The project is for the greater good of the global community with allegiance to no one except the everlasting truth of how it actually happened. If you would like to be a part Historia discussion, join us on Discord and let us know your thoughts. All spectrum of opinions and facts wanted, come all.
Originally published at blog.historia.network on March 04, 2019.
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