Better Historical Awareness
Then, what kind of history perception is the “better” history perception? How can we discover if there is something wrong with our conventional perception of history? Here, let's consider approaches for better historical awareness.
First of all, it is important to see things from multiple perspectives, to see things from a broad perspective, and to have a bird's-eye view.
Multifaceted means looking at things from different perspectives. Even one thing can be evaluated differently by changing the way you look at it. Looking at things only from one side may lead to wrong evaluations and judgments. History books that only describe one aspect are likely to be biased. Collecting history books that look at a single event from different perspectives and comparing each aspect may also help you see things from multiple perspectives.
Looking at things with a wide field of view generally means looking at things from a wider perspective. In order to widen the viewing range, it is important not only to look around the entire visible range by moving your eyes and face, but also to change your standing position and see from a different place. Using tools such as microscopes and telescopes to see things that are not visible to the naked eye can also help broaden your field of vision. Seeing what others have seen can also help broaden your horizons. In history as well, in addition to paying attention to the whole, looking at it from a different standpoint, using tools such as statistical data, analysis software, and AI, or referring to other people's information can help broaden your horizons.
A bird's-eye view is a view of the whole from a high place. If you look at things from a slightly higher position than the human eye, you will see them in a different way. Seeing things from a slightly higher perspective helps us to see things as a whole.
It is also important to carefully observe the distortions of historical perceptions that are caused by power and authority. History is written by the victors of war and rewritten by power and authority. In order to have a better understanding of history, it is also important to understand that history is distorted to some extent by power and authority. And by revising history while correcting that distortion, we may be able to see the true nature of history.
If you stick too much to idealism, you run the risk of having an erroneous historical perception. In order to have a better understanding of history, let's not get too hung up on idealism and look at the reality. A correct view of reality as it is is necessary to have a better sense of history.
In order to develop a better understanding of history, it is important to observe phenomena calmly and objectively, and to discover the causal relationships between them. Misinterpreting causal relationships increases the risk of erroneous historical recognition. Be calm and observe carefully without empathy. Then try to find causal relationships carefully.
Improving our understanding of history can be said to be an activity to search for truth from history. No one really knows where the truth of history lies.
History is a record of changes and transitions over time. People remember the past and often remember the past. However, people often misremember and forget the past. People may disagree about past events. As generations change, memories of the past are lost, and the identity of organizations such as nations and ethnic groups can be lost. Preserving history is important in order not to forget the past, not to have conflicts about the past, and not to lose the identity of the organization.
Recognition is the ability to perceive and understand something. Historical awareness generally refers to understanding and grasping history. History is written by someone. Since it was recorded by someone, history is influenced by the subjectivity and thought of the person who recorded it, and it is written for the convenience of those in power who ordered the record. In order to correctly recognize history, we must first understand that history itself is not necessarily correct. So is there a way to correctly recognize what is incorrect?
History is made by the victors of war. Much of history is written in favor of the winners of wars. In some cases, the side that loses the war is made into an outrageous villain. When we read history, we might as well keep in mind that it was written for the victors of the war. Otherwise, we will end up with a biased view of history that favors the winners. When studying history, it is important to look at the record of the losing side and understand history from both sides.
Much of history is written by historians. Historians collect vast amounts of information, carefully verify its reliability, sift through it through repeated consideration, connect disparate pieces of information together by making inferences about missing information, and so on. We will build a whole picture of history. A history book written in this way may be said to be "a work by a historian." The history book that is his work is more or less mixed with historian's subjectivity, distorted information bias due to selection, and misinformation. Not only that, many historians distort history in their own biased ways.
History is a story. It's a story that connects events that happened in the past and puts them all together. In the case of history, all the material should be only events that happened in the past. However, history is sometimes mixed with fictional stories. A plausible story can slip into history and be believed to be true by many people. Conversely, real events may appear to be fictional. History is fictionalized by historians' bold speculations, by the convenience of those in power, or because it is boring to list facts alone.
History and religion have a close relationship that is inseparable. Religion influences history, and history influences religion. Religion can affect people and change history significantly. Religions that were once oppressed by those in power can spread in later times and change history. Different religions have different historical perceptions. If a historian believes in a particular religion, the history will be heavily influenced by the historian's religious beliefs. History is religion and religion is history.
History can be conveniently rewritten by those in power to justify their power. What is convenient for those in power is emphasized, and what is not convenient is hidden or erased. Also, as an expert in history, people tend to think that everything they say is correct. Even the history books left by authoritative historians contain prejudices and mistakes. Not all histories presented by powers and authorities are correct. When reading history books, it is better to think that there are always alterations due to the convenience of those in power and prejudices and mistakes of authoritative historians.
Culture is the spiritual product of human learning, religion, architecture, art, and lifestyle. Where people gather, culture is born, culture develops, culture diversifies, or culture declines. When you study history, you can learn that various cultures were born, developed, influenced each other, and declined. When studying history, pay attention to its culture and its transitions. Culture also tells us the characteristics of regions and ethnic groups. People grow up in culture, create culture, change culture, and destroy culture.
A people is a group of people who share something. The "something" that people share is language, lifestyle, values, customs, religion, history, and so on. Ethnic groups have their own unique histories and historical views. The history of a flourishing nation becomes the history of that era, and the history of a declining nation is erased. The history of the world is also a record of the rise and fall of various ethnic groups. When studying history, it is also interesting to pay attention to the rise and fall of ethnic groups and consider how history and the rise and fall of ethnic groups influence each other.
What can we learn from studying history? What can history teach us? Does history teach us to be moral? Or does history teach us to be immoral? Learning history does not necessarily make people moral. But history is not always wholly immoral. There are many moral lessons hidden in history. On the other hand, historical facts may be unacceptable to many people's moral convictions.
If you study history, you will know various place names. Famous places tend to be popular as tourist destinations. Historically important ruins and historic sites are important tourism resources. A fascinating history increases the value of tourism resources. A city with a rich history is rich in flavor, and you can gain more realizations by visiting the land than you can learn about history from a textbook. Respecting history and preserving historically important historic sites will lead to increased tourism resources in the area.
There are many ways to learn history. History can be seen differently depending on how you study it. For example, there are ways to study a single historical event from various angles, or to study the history of a single ethnic group or religion. Alternatively, you can compare similar incidents or compare the histories of conflicting nations, ethnic groups, and religions. It is good to learn only the history of the winning side, but there may be new discoveries by looking at the history of the losing side.
History is littered with lies. When we study history, we must also know how to detect historical lies. History is a complex created by the convenience of many people. When lies are mixed in history, there must be traces of the person who mixed the lies. Basically, history is conveniently made by the victors of war, those in power, historians and religious figures. But they are not the only ones to lie to history.
History is hidden. Much history is hidden behind the history that gets attention. History that is inconvenient to those in power and historians is deliberately hidden. When there is a big event, the events around it go unnoticed and are effectively hidden from our sight. In studying history, it is also important to find "hidden history". By discovering hidden histories, you may be able to see the whole picture of that era that you couldn't see before. So how do we find hidden histories?
What lessons can we learn from history? Can the lessons of history help us? Maybe we have learned history the wrong way and therefore believe the wrong lessons. Our future will be very different depending on what lessons we draw from history. And in order to derive better lessons from history, it is important to have a better understanding of history.
In order to learn from history and get good lessons, it is important to have a better historical awareness. In order to have a better understanding of history, it is important not to trust most of the historical knowledge in the world. If you believe in a biased view of history from a particular standpoint, you will not be able to have a better view of history. In order to have a better understanding of history, it is first necessary to know various historical perceptions from different standpoints, and then to find a historical perception that allows us to take a broader view of the whole. If there is no good historical awareness in the world, let's come up with a better historical awareness ourselves.
The present we live in will eventually become the past. We also write history. If possible, I would like to leave behind a history from which we can learn good lessons so that future generations can create a better world. In order to leave a history from which we can learn good lessons, we need to reconsider the way we see things and the way we think when writing down history. In other words, instead of writing a biased history from a particular point of view, instead of writing only the things that are convenient for us and hiding the things that are not so convenient, we should write a history that gives us a broader view of the whole.
