Why I am big on history

[ultimate777]

When I was a little kid I somehow came up with the idea that the whole world was created when I was. I resented that most people were bigger, stronger, and cleverer than I and thus could always prevail in a difference of opinion. I told my parents about that and they informed me I would someday be big and strong and clever enough to hold my own. I believed they were probably telling the truth but I was not 100% sure. So as soon as I could read I glommed onto history to see if the world really had been around so much longer than I had.

What do you think about that?

Do you even recall thinking about the origion of creation before being taught about it?

[RickD]

When I was a little kid I somehow came up with the idea that the whole world was created when I was.

So, you were an extremely young earth creationist?

[Seraph]

Or a solipsist

When I was young I used to wonder if maybe I was the center of reality and everyone else is just playing a part. Later I saw the Truman Show and thought it was crazy similar to what I used to ponder when I was a kid.

[Seeker]

Iused to think like seraph when i was a littlun. I though everyone else was a robot.

[PeteSinCA]

History is about people, how things got to be the way they are, and you can learn from past mistakes and past successes ... lots to like.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

History is about people, how things got to be the way they are, and you can learn from past mistakes and past successes ... lots to like.

...and remember that history is written by the victors and is largely a big bunch of crap...or lies...or, to use a modern term, spin. Biblical history is the only one that I trust unconditionally.

FL

[PeteSinCA]

History is about people, how things got to be the way they are, and you can learn from past mistakes and past successes ... lots to like.

...and remember that history is written by the victors and is largely a big bunch of crap...or lies...or, to use a modern term, spin. Biblical history is the only one that I trust unconditionally.

FL

Abraham fearfully told rulers that his wife was simply his sister and created messes. His son Isaac did the same. Jacob was a conniving Mama's boy. Several of Jacob's sons wiped out the men of a town (after the son of the town ruler raped their sister). Jacob's oldest "slept with" one of Jacob's wives. 10 of Jacob's sons plotted to kill, but then ended up selling their half brother into slavery. And that's just a quickie overview of the lowlights of Genesis.

"(H)istory is written by the victors and is largely a big bunch of crap," is very over-simplified. Any number of horrible mistakes made by history's heroes are well known. Off the top of my head: Churchill and the Dardanelles disaster in WW1; Pearl Harbor (need I say more?); General MacArthur's failure to prepare his forces in the Philippines after the Pearl Harbor attack; the near total failure of the US Navy's Mark XIV submarine torpedo (depth control didn't work; magnetic exploder didn't work reliably; contact exploder didn't work reliably; not detected due to failure to test or use in training, due to budget slashing); Battle of Savo Island (Google it; it was the consequence of utterly inadequate training by the US Navy, due to budget slashing); General Eisenhower's and Bradley's failure to anticipate or detect the massive German attack that started the Battle of the Bulge; General MacArthur's failure, in Korea, to anticipate or detect the massive attack by Chinese forces.

Sometimes it takes a while to get past the hero worship, but even victors have a need to avoid repeating mistakes that motivates them to admit mistakes.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

"(H)istory is written by the victors and is largely a big bunch of crap," is very over-simplified.

The point I was trying to make is that history as recorded by ''us humans'' is not accurate because it presents a stilted/myopic vision of what actually took place. On the other hand, Biblical history is perfectly accurate because it is the word of God and He doesn't lie or take sides. By virtue of that, if He said it, it is true.

FL

[ultimate777]

History is about people, how things got to be the way they are, and you can learn from past mistakes and past successes ... lots to like.

...and remember that history is written by the victors and is largely a big bunch of crap...or lies...or, to use a modern term, spin. Biblical history is the only one that I trust unconditionally.

FL

You are mistaken. Who do you impress? Alas, I know of no nice way to go into detail on this. Except to say, who wrote most of the history of the Civil War?

[ultimate777]

"(H)istory is written by the victors and is largely a big bunch of crap," is very over-simplified.

The point I was trying to make is that history as recorded by ''us humans'' is not accurate because it presents a stilted/myopic vision of what actually took place. On the other hand, Biblical history is perfectly accurate because it is the word of God and He doesn't lie or take sides. By virtue of that, if He said it, it is true.

FL

Except a lot of the time He was misquoted.

[PaulSacramento]

If people think that history only shows one side, they need to read more.
The simple fact that we debate the other views of pretty much every historical account to one degree or another, shows that history is recorded by more than just "one side" of the argument.

[Seraph]

History is constantly being revised and updated based on new findings and the question of who was in the right at various points in time is constantly being debated. The history taught today is definitely not just a single narrative by the winners that is accepted. In fact, a lot of history classes I've been in tended to sympathize with the losers.

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

History is constantly being revised and updated based on new findings and the question of who was in the right at various points in time is constantly being debated. The history taught today is definitely not just a single narrative by the winners that is accepted. In fact, a lot of history classes I've been in tended to sympathize with the losers.

''...in fact, a lot of history classes I've been in tended to sympathize with the losers.'' History shouldn't sympathized with either the victors or the losers. When I was a young man, history was told to champion the winners; apparently, things have changed for you. I'm quite sure the new way is just as inaccurate.

If people think that history only shows one side, they need to read more.
The simple fact that we debate the other views of pretty much every historical account to one degree or another, shows that history is recorded by more than just "one side" of the argument.

No, not read more. Rather, one needs to accept that history is told and understood through the lens of culture & values. For example, Anglo-Canadian history is told so differently from Franco-Canadian history that if you didn't know it, you'd assume these were two separate countries.

Anyway, the only history you can have complete confidence in is that which is recorded in the Bible.

FL