The Shadowlit Realms
| Labyrinth of the Mind |
When We Are HistoryAs you are probably aware I am a great lover of history, but when it comes to my relationship or view of history I have somewhat mixed feelings. On the one hand I cannot deny that some of the things which have been done in the past were truly horrible, and should never have been done, there is that historian within me that warns me against judging history from a modern context. It is something which I criticize others from doing. I do try and see history from the view of what was going on in the world at that time, and what was the current mode of thought, not from the perspective of a person in the modern world, because the views, ideas, and understandings we have now, did not exists then.
And many of the horrendous things which had been done historically, were in the minds of the people at the time, perfectly normal and natural, they themselves were not aware of their wrong doing. They were products of their ages. Now I do not use this as an excuse for the things which have been done, and I am never one to support the idea that because the majority does it, makes it right, I still think it is important to understand, that these people were not in their time intentionally or knowingly trying to act in an unjust maner. Now today it is easy to look back and say, how could they not possible know what they were doing was wrong? And even throughout history there were always the select few enlightened minds that knew at the time that the popular beliefs were wrong. But sometimes I cannot help but to wonder. In the future (supposing there is actually going to be a future), what things, which to us now are part of our everyday life (not the things of which we knowingly condemn as wrong in our world) but the things that seem everyday to the majority of us, that we do not really question, will people in some advanced time look back upon us for and say to themselves "what barbarians, how could they actually think like that. How could they call themselves civilized when they do such things." 2:09 PM - 10/16/2008 - post comment
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 For though All are not able to write books, all conceive themselves able to judge them. ~The Monk
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