A Little Perspective (Summer Assignment Post 4)
History is not an easy subject to learn. In most classes, instructors expect you to memorize names, dates, places, and facts. Or, you are asked to analyze the cause and effect relationships that bind nearly all of the sequences of events in our timelines. Sometimes you are asked to look for patterns in the continuity and change in history; because, as we all know, "history repeats itself." All under a due date for a paper or deadline for a test. This makes it a daunting task to keep your head above water in any AP or college level class. But it gets worse...
With all of the facts and information compiled in massive textbooks, you cannot forget the influence of the biases or skewed perspectives that the keepers of our history might hold. Take the world map for example. Who is at the top of the world map right smack dab in the middle as if perched on a throne? Europe of course. They did make most of the maps after all. Years of European dominance in exploration and map making during the 15th 16th and 17th centuries solidify the European grip on what is up and what is down; Who is a centerpiece and who is on the fringe. Our spatial organization of the world is no doubt European.
But the Eurocentric view is not the only way to spatialize our world. What about the poor Aussies? Why do they have to be the land "down under?" What if they were the land "up over?" Would the Koala bears still be cute? I doubt it... Through the magic of photoshop, we can see "The World Down Under," a map representing the world with Australia as its center-piece. This map is a little tougher for our westernized eyes to understand. New York is now a west coast city, South Africa is now, well, North...
But by far the most difficult part about learning history is our inability to fully realize the importance of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism means that if we are to fully understand someone or something, we have to view it within the context of the culture from which it comes. We cannot look at history with American eyes. If we do, everything will seem so strange, so foreign.
Mayan bloodletting is a great example of why it is important to view history from a native perspective. Bloodletting was a practice in which the Mayan elite cut themselves (usually on the tongue, genitalia, or fingers) with an obsidian blade in order to let their blood spill out onto a ritual alter. This, in addition to human sacrifice, placed a cloud of intrigue around the culture and caused many observers to apply the label savage or insane to the Mayans. To the Mayans, this ceremony kept harmony in the universe, it brought rain to end droughts, it kept the natural order of their society. When the Spaniards arrived they called it barbaric.
Information overload, perspective, and bias all make history hard. But there is more out there that stops people from understanding and loving history.
What is it that you find to be most difficult about learning history?
What is it that makes it hard for you to like history?
Or, what is it about history that you love to learn about?
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| The World Down Under |
But by far the most difficult part about learning history is our inability to fully realize the importance of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism means that if we are to fully understand someone or something, we have to view it within the context of the culture from which it comes. We cannot look at history with American eyes. If we do, everything will seem so strange, so foreign.
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| Mayan Bloodletting |
Information overload, perspective, and bias all make history hard. But there is more out there that stops people from understanding and loving history.
What is it that you find to be most difficult about learning history?
What is it that makes it hard for you to like history?
Or, what is it about history that you love to learn about?
What I find most difficult is that we know that "history is written by the victors", but that doesn't necessarily mean that everything in history textbooks is 100% true, maybe even 50% true. I want to know exactly how things happened, what was said, who was there, etc. But I can't do that without a time machine or a device that allows me to peer into the past and view it through the eyes of another (which would be really cool).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I love learning history anyway because I like to know what happened in the past, not what clothing is "hip" and "in style", or what the Kardashians are up to. I feel this way because eventually (and maybe unfortunately) those things will be history themselves that can be learned.
Good points! I agree with you, I hope I never have to read about the Kardashians in any book... ever...
DeleteThe hardest thing to learn about history is almost certainly understanding motivations. Especially in religious circumstances, it's sometimes very difficult to know exactly what someone was thinking when they did something, unless this individual specifically explains their motivation for doing something.
ReplyDeleteI really like to learn little anecdotal facts from history. Just strange or weird tidbits. It makes history feel more alive and makes past historical figures seem more human. More real. For example, did you know Salvidore Dali had a pet giant anteater, that he would often take on walks? Strange little facts like these, to me, make history much more enjoyable to take in.
Yeah I know what you mean, I was always really curious about historical figures "last words" for some reason. Some of them are very poetic, some are just strange.
DeleteWell honestly, history isn't hard for me to remember. It's just something that sticks in my mind for some reason. But, I very much enjoy the politics of history, and the relations between countries. It's just something that really catches my attention.
ReplyDeleteI read Christian's reply, and he is right. History just sticks in his mind, and it makes me jealous. The hardest part of the subject for me is the memorization. Now, I can follow it pretty easily when it comes to individual chapters, but once an era—let alone a whole course—is over, I'm largely left with the main concepts. I lose many of the names of people, places and events that made these stories so captivating, so real. Thus I can't retell the stories in detail myself, as I would like.
ReplyDeleteDespite this issue, history fascinates me. I've been looking forward especially to this class for a couple of years now. Just as reading a book can take you to another world, so can this subject. There are all sorts of unbelievable characters – deceitful, heroic, and inspiring; there are beautiful, sometimes alien landscapes, and there are timeless lessons for us to absorb for a better life in the future. In sum, history is a great story. Moreover, it is the most relevant and important story we will ever read, hear, or live.
The most difficult thing about learning history is that it covers so much time and that means there is so much to remember. I have trouble remembering all the dates, names, places, and facts. The thing that makes it hard for me to like history is that it happened in the past, like a very long time ago, so why should I care to like or learn about it. However, there are some things I like to learn about.
ReplyDeleteAmerican bias is the most frustrating part about learning history for me. Every history class I've ever been in isn't so much history as it is History and America's Role in it. Almost never do we talk about the history of Japan or Africa. As someone who is fascinated by Asian history I always have to go out of my way to learn it. But history is also the most rewarding subject. Stepping aside from all the big picture nonsense and useless dates, the small stories of individuals across the planet give me faith in the world.
ReplyDelete1. I find that when dealing with cause and effect of a historic moment and trying to see how it effects something somewhere else can be sometimes difficult.
ReplyDelete2. What I love to learn about history is the ancient mystery behind it or even the more recent ones in the past hundred years.
I think the hardest thing to learn in history is how everything ends up connecting. We don't all stay separated forever and every culture has had some kind of impact on this world.
ReplyDeleteI think the thing that makes it hard to learn history is not being able to actually be there witnessing the history and having to read it from someone else's perspective.
I love learning how history impacts today.