IndexWhat is History?The Importance of Understanding HistoryWorks Cited:What is History?There are many important passages that lead to the conclusion that all history is an interpretation. Since history is an account of what happened in the past, we cannot know anything other than what has been recorded. So, in reality, the only true factual story is what the witness writes or says about an event. This is known as first hand. However, since only an infinitesimal amount of history has actually been recorded, this leaves historians to guess and write their own interpretation. This proves that all the history books we read are just interpretations of real events. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Another step that led to the conclusion that all history is an interpretation is the fact that when historians write textbooks, only a limited amount of facts can be written. At least a fraction, if not most of the actual information is excluded. A historian's view of what is important and unimportant is also considered an interpretation. If any factual information is left out, it cannot be an account of the actual event. Conversely, if a historian wrote all the facts in a book, it wouldn't sell. The final proof that the whole story is interpreted by the book is the different points of view. There are many books based on history and some of them may be partial. For example, a Republican author of a politics-based book might try not to take the Republican side of politics, but it's what he believes and he may well unconsciously lean towards the Republican side. A partial book is an interpretation from one point of view. The reliability of such a book is considerably low. The reason why we shouldn't just look up the definition of something is because what the dictionary says could also be an interpretation. Dictionaries are also written by humans and therefore are also open to interpretation. Even a dictionary is just one source. Instead of just examining a few from a single point of view, many points of view should be collected and taught. In addition to looking for an author's possible biases, other useful techniques historians can use when reading or writing history use many sources. When writing history, using different perspectives can help you write an article or book that isn't biased. When reading history, using more than one source can help one get a better idea of what actually happened, safeguarding a historian from having a distorted idea. Another benefit of using more than one source would be to have a much more solid opinion, having read many opinions. While reading more than one source may take longer, this will be mitigated by biases. If history is only interpretation, the ultimate goal of work in a history course should be the search for truth. The story is like an enigmatic puzzle, except it has missing pieces. Interpretations are simply what others assume the missing pieces are. A historian's goal is to find the truth or the rest of the missing pieces. Of course, this arduous task cannot be accomplished overnight or by one person alone, but by a union of historians. The importance of understanding history Understanding history can help us better understand the world today. Studying the history of education has helped me understand the cultural implications that influence our education, as well as how education has changed over the years and.
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