Note: the following skepticisms of history aren’t proof of my personal beliefs, but a necessary provocation to hopefully dissolve rigid bias about “truth.”
I’m not a Holocaust denier….but I could be.
…
What do we decide to trust?
What do we decide to not trust?
Why?
Believe it or not, what we define as fact is technically unprovable…
It’s true.
Even though you may not like it.
Don’t worry, I wouldn’t say I like it either. It’s a crucial part of the human condition to create meaning out of life. The only proof of anything is the objective results that sit right in front of us.
But what if the only thing that makes anything a fact is our trust in it?
And trust is based on conviction to what makes sense to us.
…
Was it creation or evolution? Or both?
Does the Universe end? What’s beyond it? (this hurts my brain)
Are dinosaurs a conspiracy theory?
…
No, I’m not saying that we can’t prove things by science or math or even history…which is the premise that I’ll follow today.
Proofs are what make things true to us.
What I’m saying, is that the closest thing we have to facts is the result of what we see in the world.
Our buildings old and new prove architecture, industrialism, and ability.
Our books and scrolls prove wisdom, happenings, and the growth of the world as we know it.
Our relationships prove the definition of love, collaboration, and the soul itself(or our abstract trust of what the soul is).
Proof lies in what we see directly in front of us and all around us because of our senses and how we interpret that when it gets to our brains.
The present moment is the constantly moving fact of what exists:
The air that you breathe, dogs on leashes, brands of shoes and sunglasses, laptops, skyscrapers, the color of fall leaves, the Cybertruck, the Colosseum, orcas and cheetahs…
But, what if I were to tell you about my personal history?
What will make you believe me?
People lie all the time.
The only way to know if what I say is true is by your ability to trust what I tell you.
My scars may verify injuries. My intense emotions about my experiences may breed truth. My wisdom and awareness may prove the lessons I’ve learned and the mistakes I’ve made.
But you weren’t there.
You have no way to prove what has happened beyond the trust you have that what I say is true.
I’ve found that what I needed most for personal wisdom came from human history even more than my own.
Wars have taught me about greed and ego and indifference, but also humility and wisdom and humanity.
Figures have taught me about compassion, individual ability, and power as well as corruption, injustice, and the impact of human flaws.
Religions have taught me about elitism, ideology, and ignorance, as well as inclusion, patience, and grace.
And I have to decide on what is true and what it means for existence. For the human condition and experience.
…
That’s history.
As we study it, people all across the globe have debates about the what, when, and how of its happening.
They’re stories, anecdotes, and reports, both written and verbal(and just most recently recorded).
You weren’t there, yet you decide to trust them.
And to some degree, you have to.
It would be impossible to exist with a stable mind if you didn’t trust anything. But it’s our ability to do so that helps us define the world as well as build on it.
History itself, “proven” or not, is how to bring meaning to anything. It’s how we define good and evil. It’s how we know the difference between growth and destruction. It’s how we minimize our mistakes and maintain belief in the future.
…
What’s important then, is not that we blindly trust everything that has happened, but trust what makes sense to us. Each of us….individually.
Which is harder than we think.
Not just for what is true in history but what is true now.
Did we truly land on the moon or was it faked? What does it mean if we did? What does it mean if we didn’t?
Did the Holocaust actually happen?
Did Jesus die on a cross? Is he the one true God? Was the Earth and Universe created?
Did dinosaurs roam the Earth 65 million years ago? Is evolution real?
Is the earth actually flat? Are pictures of the blue marble fake?
Are there really 100 million sharks that die every year?
Can lab-grown meat truly replace animal meat on a nutritional level?
Is the United States government dissolving democracy?
…
What I am saying, is that beyond our own experiences, we have to decide what to trust.
What makes anything true?
What’s true, when common skepticism provokes it, comes down to the individual.
And to be an individual means to stand by what you believe, regardless of proof….and more importantly allow others to do so.
…
Not only is history important to our growth, but it would be impossible to have grown civilization without our ability to look back to it.
It’s why I distrust anyone who looks to censor it or assume that history only happened as their interpretation of it…
…because no one person can know it all.
That’s “god” stuff.
…
My greatest desire is to get other people to think outside of what they already believe. The fact that it is unbearably difficult is proof to me that it’s necessary.
Real growth…
Is not done by following a linear path “up” by by expanding “out” 360 degrees. That means listening beyond your own beliefs and biases.
I’ve found that questioning my own beliefs — seeing outside of my bias convictions — is just as important as believing in them.
It’s led me to new ideas and an absolute grace and empathy for people who think differently than me.
And to me…that is what makes us grow and love each other.
What we reject is just as important as what we decide to believe. Nobody wants to give up how see the world because it threatens their identity. But, you’re inevitably going to find, in some things, that new and more obvious belief lies just around the corner of questioning your own.
…
None of us can truly live life without trust in some sort of history because history itself is the mirror in which we recognize ourselves and decide who we are.
It’s what makes us unique. It’s what makes us capable of love as well as innovation.
So,
What do you believe?
Does it make you cynical or optimistic?
Does it define who you are or suppress it?
Does it make you question more?
And what will you do about it?
How will you use it?
Truth and Love, Reader.