OT History Tells

I once asked a history major why anyone would write a NEW history book? - why not just reprint the old history books? - it's not like history has changed any. His reply was one of my few personal favorites, to quote:

"They buy new history books all the time. When a new administration gets in power, they want the books to tell their point of view. ------- work to get into power just so they can change the books. Right now there are people re-writing text books in case ------ gets elected, then they can sell the system books that agree with his point of view." (I quoted it the best that I remember but who remembers perfectly? I left out names.)

At that point, I decided that HE KNEW HISTORY. Takes something special to impress me, that was it. He understood the context that the SUBJECT of history comes from.

My take on history is that it is often fantasy for people who hate fantasy.

But it is made up by people who not only like fantasy - they spin it themselves.

If you read the book "Please Understand Me" (Briggs-Myer personality quiz) you will remember the iNtuitive/Sensible split.

Intuitives like fantasy; Sensibles do not - unless iNtuitives tell them that it non-fiction.

I think history is fantasy for people who don't like fantasy.

I have these categories of history:

1. Personal History - I was there, I heard it, or read the news, or saw it at the time it happened - before it could be re-done into "historical fact".

2. His-story, Her-story, Their-story: - somebody alive at the time it happened, told me what they heard or saw.

3. Hear say: somebody heard it and re-said it, someone else heard & said, an so on until it reached me, but it happened in the lifetime of people who are still alive now.

4. It happened before anyone alive now was born.

And older than that? How do you erase something written in stone? I saw on TV about how:

The ancient Egyptians wrote about their Pharaoh, and they craved statues. Other Pharaohs came along, and changed the names on the writings, and de-faced the statues of people they didn't like.