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writers_muses Prompt # 15.2 ~ History vs. Memory
Dec. 21st, 2007 08:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
on_holy_ground"There is an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to trust memory over history. Memory, like fire, is radiant and immutable while history serves only those who seek to control it, those who douse the flame of memory in order to put out the dangerous fire of truth. Beware these men for they are dangerous themselves and unwise. Their false history is written in the blood of those who might remember and of those who seek the truth." - Floyd Westerman as Albert Hosteen in The X-Files episode "The Blessing Way"
I believe that it was Winston Churchill who said, "history is written by the victors", and the simple fact is that he was quite correct. The so called facts of what happened in years past are skewed by those who do the writing, and while they may intend to give nothing but facts, it is simple human nature that desires to make the winning side seem like the ones in the right. Especially as any histories written to contradict that side will generally end up being ‘lost’ in one way or another, or even ignored altogether.
For instance, the stories told by the Native American elders would likely differ greatly from what the history books say about the expansion of the United States. The common people of Germany would have likely seen a very different view of the two world wars than the ones that most histories speak about. Memories handed down from one generation to the next will often tell a completely different side of what has happened in the past, as compared to what is considered to be fact.
Memories however, can be just as fallible as the history books, despite what many people might believe. Our memories are colored by the moment, by our emotions, by our personalities, and eventually even by time itself. They fade and can be lost completely as people age, and then the story they are a part of will often change. Memories passed down from one generation to the next will lose bits and pieces in the exchange as the ages pass. Even memories that are only a few years old can grow dim in our minds, as others come to take their place.
The simple fact is that like history, memory is something that comes from only one point of view. To truly learn from the past, we must take both of these things into account if we wish to avoid the mistakes of the generations that came before. Otherwise we have simply taken the viewpoint we are most comfortable with and left the rest to be forgotten, just like much of the past from which we are trying to learn.
I believe that it was Winston Churchill who said, "history is written by the victors", and the simple fact is that he was quite correct. The so called facts of what happened in years past are skewed by those who do the writing, and while they may intend to give nothing but facts, it is simple human nature that desires to make the winning side seem like the ones in the right. Especially as any histories written to contradict that side will generally end up being ‘lost’ in one way or another, or even ignored altogether.
For instance, the stories told by the Native American elders would likely differ greatly from what the history books say about the expansion of the United States. The common people of Germany would have likely seen a very different view of the two world wars than the ones that most histories speak about. Memories handed down from one generation to the next will often tell a completely different side of what has happened in the past, as compared to what is considered to be fact.
Memories however, can be just as fallible as the history books, despite what many people might believe. Our memories are colored by the moment, by our emotions, by our personalities, and eventually even by time itself. They fade and can be lost completely as people age, and then the story they are a part of will often change. Memories passed down from one generation to the next will lose bits and pieces in the exchange as the ages pass. Even memories that are only a few years old can grow dim in our minds, as others come to take their place.
The simple fact is that like history, memory is something that comes from only one point of view. To truly learn from the past, we must take both of these things into account if we wish to avoid the mistakes of the generations that came before. Otherwise we have simply taken the viewpoint we are most comfortable with and left the rest to be forgotten, just like much of the past from which we are trying to learn.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 01:59 pm (UTC)This entry speaks truth and this part perhaps the truest. *nods*
ooc: Nice post and with just that right touch of Darius!
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Date: 2007-12-21 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 10:12 pm (UTC)ooc: It's just a phase, it will pass. he seems fine to me! :)
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Date: 2007-12-22 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-22 11:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 03:08 pm (UTC)ooc: Oh God, the things they have to talk about. We both love this side of Darius.
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Date: 2007-12-21 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 06:59 pm (UTC)The article's online here: Twilight of the Books: What will life be like if people stop reading? (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2007/12/24/071224crat_atlarge_crain?currentPage=all)
There were a couple of things it mentions about the Greek alphabet and literacy that I was going to ask you about, but I forgot.
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Date: 2007-12-22 04:57 pm (UTC)