History is not in fact the study of the past, but more the study of the traces that have been revealed or that are available to us. What we know of history has been filtered through people’s diverging perceptions and emotions, the bias of historians and what is highlighted. By my last point I’m referring to the mere fact that people are what determine history and they are who decide what is shed to light and what’s to be forgotten or simply not to be known. That leads me to now evaluate the validity of the quote, “History is part myth, part hope and part reality”. To really understand the validity of the quote, we must make sure that the initial premises are truth, but that it also entails the truth of the conclusion. In other words, that the whole quote is certain and not just part of it. If we dissect this statement into parts, we first see how history is part myth, or a traditional story because we have been nurtured to believe such. There are certain elements of history that are always going to be unquestioned without really having a determinable basis of fact because that is what the authority has taught us to believe in. Moreover, we as conscious humans are aware of the fact that we can’t dwell on every detail of history because that isn’t the true purpose of it. Its purpose is to absorb the main idea of what happened in the past and how we will adjust or change to such events. In order for this to take place, we must then just accept certain facts, or myths, that we really aren’t sure of because we won’t ever be completely assured of this information, but it still ends up being part of the past. This leads to the second fragment of the quote, that history is hope. Truth is, without a doubt, we won’t ever be able to go back in time and relive certain events that we’d like to see or to prove or disprove. For the time being, though, it’s imperative that we must have faith that all of the history that we’re being exposed to is the majority of the truth. We have let historians screen what they believe to be relevant and meaningful and therefore it is only fair that we accept such history and hope that it is true because we personally won’t ever presence the actual occurrence of events that took place in the past. However, there is indeed a significant amount of history that is reality that in fact happened. Whether we were there when it happened, we have been told from extremely reliable sources or we are let known from undeniable evidence, there does exist history that is completely true. We may not know the background to certain events and the true causes or motivations, but we can certainly see the outskirts and the effects of such incidents and that is the truth.
If we take for example the Bible and its teachings, this is surely a clichéd example, but the effect that it has had in my life, proves the validity of the quote that was previously mentioned. Revisionists will always question events that are depicted in the Bible for their supernatural nature whether it is the creation of humanity as a result from Adam and Eve or the fact that Jesus rose again three days later after he was crucified. Heck, it’s difficult for me to truly believe these concepts even if I understand them. This myth part ends up being the counterargument in itself because history is supposed to be the truth of what happened. A myth ultimately has no evidence to support its claims. However, I must admit that all these “myths” that my Catholic religion has nurtured to me trust in, and even more so because of the fact that I committed to my religion after First Communion, confirmed myself to being a Catholic only a few years ago and still go to church every Sunday, I believe in them. I hope that they’re mostly truths because even though they have been disproven as of late, I still choose to have faith in God because I’ve grown to pray to him and venerate him all my life and he is my inspiration in times of despair.
Now, the overall implication of the initial quote in the importance of “knowing” history is quite simple. The quote encompasses what history truly is made of and how valuable history is. History allows us to consider the perceptions, emotions and reasons that people had when writing the past and then make connections of this accepted past with the present and the future in order to see its true relevance and significance. Moreover, asking questions about the past allows us to prepare and think about how to react in the present and for the future. In a life with no history, humans would discover the same, “new things” everyday and society would never advance. Knowledge for development would not be acquired.
What is good and what is evil? What is right and what is wrong? Such simple questions are the basis of discussion in terms of the Area of Knowledge (AOK) called Ethics. However, if we were to define ethics, we should consider the quote, “Ethics is part myth, part hope and party reality”. If we take for example the role of ethics in my life, although it is pretty present, it surges in various ways and maybe not so apparent at first. For example, the relationship I share with my mom. I truly love her and care for her greatly, however, I must admit that I constantly lie to her to a certain extent. For instance, when I go out in weekends, she restricts me in such a way that I feel I can’t really enjoy myself and spend a nice time. So in response, I tell her part of the truth. I let her know where I’ll be at first, but not were I plan to go or the people that will be with me. Now, the myth is that it’s unethical and wrong to lie to your mom. However, what if it turns out to be better for the both of us. I ultimately feel independent and enjoy my days off, while she doesn’t have to bear with the worry or the fear that something bad might happen to me. Does this win-win effect end up being morally wrong? Furthermore, ethics is hope because I believe that despite my untruths, and the fact that the myth says that lying is an awful vice, it might actually be a virtue to keep my mom from carrying the burden of a volatile son and instead hope that I am doing a good deed by letting her believe that I do everything as she says and under her watch. The reality of ethics, however, is that hiding the truth will always be incorrect and morally wrong and especially when it’s directed towards your own mom. Nonetheless, through this quote and this example, we’re able to see that ethics plays a major role in the immediate consequences that are present in everyday life especially as we gain more knowledge of them and how we decided to apply them.
In conclusion, I believe that history and ethics play a significant role in the way we attain knowledge and they are the main basis of who we are as a whole and who we will become in response to grasping this new knowledge. They are, however, part myths, part hope and part reality, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re crucial to the expansion and employment of our knowledge.
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Bibliography
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" The Bible, Truth and Reality ." Bible prophecy: world government| RFID |climate change| EU |Israel| Middle East | apostate church | persecution. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2011. <http://www.seekingtruth.co.uk/
