UTT - Blog Post 22

As you are studying for your history final, Paige announced that this was pointless because history is not objectively true as it has been written by the winners.  How would you respond to Paige?  50 points, due Monday, May 14th by Midnight.

        Is history pointless? Because honestly, if we didn’t have history, the present would be something completely different. What we’ve learned in the past influences both the present and the future—without the prior knowledge of experience and being able to see what has happened throughout history, we would be doomed to repeat many of the same mistakes as before. So, while you may claim it is not objectively true, it does play a huge role in everything, so it is definitely not pointless.

        To continue, though, you’ve begged the question over whether “history being written by the winners” is accurate or not. For one thing, that isn’t always the case: Take the Jewish people, for example, after the Holocaust. They definitely weren’t winners, but their histories are the most accurate representations of what went on in those camps, because they want it to be remembered correctly. So history isn’t always written by only the winners.

        Now, of course, it is true that the winners do, in their own areas, publish their versions of history, but even those “not objective” versions still contain enough factual evidence to be valuable both as lessons in human nature and events that trespassed—reported in opinion or cold, clear logic. Either way, it is worth enough that history should be given some importance, not simply ignored.

        So, in conclusion, history can be written by the victors, but even then, it is still worth something and is never pointless. It is valuable as a teaching tool, as a source of knowledge, and as a way to understand both the present and the future.