Review History Written by the Victors?

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10



Unfortunately, history has shown us that the victors are not always the good guys. Heck, they might even tell lies now and again.

So how can we trust the history that we have been taught if the people who wrote it control the depiction of what actually went down?

And if we could look back and see the reality, as opposed to the books, would we be in for a disturbing shock?
 

Gavin

Member: Rank 6
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It certainly might be interesting to see the writings of the losers. Unfortunately all too often they were destroyed by the winners. An interesting example is in Old Testament studies (which I'm currently doing). The fact that the Bible has survived as a set of writings means that often the only thing we know about some of the other peoples from that region and time is the condemnation of their practices in the Bible. In those few cases where writings from that period have since been found they usually provide a very different picture (although often confirming the practices the Bible discusses but from a perspective where those practices are accepted and normal).
 

Hux

Member: Rank 6
These days, no.

Most universities provide narratives about the crimes of white people, the oppression of women, gays, and minorities in general. That's not strictly speaking, history written by the losers but it is history written by the victors as they hang their heads with a sense of shame.

The winners often reflect on their past mistakes more than the losers.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
So how can we trust the history that we have been taught if the people who wrote it control the depiction of what actually went down?

And if we could look back and see the reality, as opposed to the books, would we be in for a disturbing shock?
Archaeologists are always discovering new things that rewrite history, and are constantly changing the narrative. The unfortunate issue with that is that there are people who will always question anything new that they are taught about history if it conflicts with their idea of what really happened.

I'm reminded of a woman who worked in the same office I worked in back in the ninties. She was about twenty years older than I was. Someone made some comment about the push at the time to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day (something I agree wholeheartedly with), and she went on a rant about how, when she was a kid, they were taught all about how Columbus was a hero, and how people were changing everything she had learned. The things we were taught to think become dogmatic, in a way, and that's why many don't want to accept anything new. They just want their comfortable history, and not have to see the ugly truths about the horrors that may have occurred.
 
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