History can sod off

This would have been a carnival post last year but Ithought it was a bit mean spirited to put this in and I kind of didnt like what I had written, but I thought I would quietly throw it out now.

Perhaps I am overexagerating here, but I suppose I have a lot less care about history than many others.

I think it is less that history is bad but more a worry that communities may have a tendancy to reach for history as an argument for some form of validity. we were always here and this is proof, sort of thing.

There are plenty of discoveries about human psychology or obscure biology that have only been ‘discovered’ recently, but which probably existed as long as humans have. The fact is a rapidly growing population combined with far more of us having the ability to communicate our experiences to a wide audience means really rare parts of human experience are coming to light. Take hyperthymesia as an example, a very recent observation in scientific literature, but very few would argue it didnt exist and most would agree it is probably something some people would have had throughout human history. would that idea be any more valid if someone dug out a report from an ancient monk about this guy who had an incredible memory.

On the other hand, there are many traditions or beliefs about people which go back millenia and are utterly stupid. your baby is not a changeling.

Why should i care if this thing i think of as an identity turned up last week or was recorded by the ancient greeks. Does it correspond to reality, is it useful to me. that is far more interesting.

The usual idea seems to be that it is in some way comforting. the idea that you are not alone and people in the past face the same struggle as you. for some reason that does nothing for me. I really don’t care that someone long ago struggled with the same shite that causes me pain.

Maybe that is just another thing I wont understand.