“History is part hope, part myth, and part reality.” To what extent do you agree with this claim?
When considering the process of constructing history, it becomes apparent that truth exists on an individual level, making it difficult to validate all of history as true. Historians, witnesses, typical citizens and politicians from all walks of life are the makers of history, textbooks and knowledge. As a result of the diversity of distinct human experiences, everyone has their own opinions on what is considered true. Therefor, history is not only influenced by reality due to the impact of perception and emotions, which vary from person to person and culture to culture. History evolves, changes and differs throughout classrooms, the world and time depending on the unique values and beliefs of certain populations of people with particular experiences. History, the acquired knowledge through the examination of events, in essence umbrellas a variety of different view points and stories, some of which are …show more content…
To exemplify, imagine that the majority of textbooks were published in Vermont or California, two of the most left-winged states in the US. Although this is a hypothetical situation, one can argue that depending on the ideals, hopes, stories, and experiences of those living in a specific area, liberal textbooks would literally and figuratively outweigh conservative textbooks. Hypothetically, if textbooks were written on the generally liberal east or west coasts, professors, teachers, school board members and other academic authorities would exemplify the concept of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias would occur because the books would likely validate that preconceived, liberal notions of history were true; and therefore people would likely disregard contradictory
When considering the process of constructing history, it becomes apparent that truth exists on an individual level, making it difficult to validate all of history as true. Historians, witnesses, typical citizens and politicians from all walks of life are the makers of history, textbooks and knowledge. As a result of the diversity of distinct human experiences, everyone has their own opinions on what is considered true. Therefor, history is not only influenced by reality due to the impact of perception and emotions, which vary from person to person and culture to culture. History evolves, changes and differs throughout classrooms, the world and time depending on the unique values and beliefs of certain populations of people with particular experiences. History, the acquired knowledge through the examination of events, in essence umbrellas a variety of different view points and stories, some of which are …show more content…
To exemplify, imagine that the majority of textbooks were published in Vermont or California, two of the most left-winged states in the US. Although this is a hypothetical situation, one can argue that depending on the ideals, hopes, stories, and experiences of those living in a specific area, liberal textbooks would literally and figuratively outweigh conservative textbooks. Hypothetically, if textbooks were written on the generally liberal east or west coasts, professors, teachers, school board members and other academic authorities would exemplify the concept of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias would occur because the books would likely validate that preconceived, liberal notions of history were true; and therefore people would likely disregard contradictory