Universal Constant: “History is written by the Conquers.”
Preface: Universal Constants is a series where I post bits of common knowledge that may be relevant to any or all aspects of life as we know it. These are “undeniable” principles of reality that often span the fields of philosophy, theology, history, psychology, science and politics.
Before the Age of Information all knowledge of the past and the present was controlled by the “powers that be”, the Conquers. On the large scale, the ruling class (be it kings or governments) and the Church controlled all of recorded History as well as contemporary information such as current contracts or land ownership. Anything that needed to be written down and logged in was theirs to manage and possibly manipulate, if it was in their best interests.
On the small scale, any information that you come across, through the media, cable TV, radio or (of course) the internet, comes to you through someone else’s perspective. In a sense they have conquered the data before you because they got it first. Watch the news, listen to the radio, look at web sites, all the information you receive, no matter how factual, is always at least mildly tainted by the source’s own point of view. Did you ever play that game where you sat in a circle of friends, one started by whispering a statement to the next and it was passed on around the circle? By the time it got back to the source, the statement was not as it started. This “POV Effect” happens any time knowledge is shared.
Now we are in the Information Age and it is harder for the ruling classes to obscure what they don’t want the common man to know. Now I’m sure by now you are thinking I’m some “out there” conspiracy theorist. Please believe I’m not. All I’m saying is that it may not be probable, but it is definitively possible. So, on the large scale and the small, always take what you are told with a grain of salt, shift it through your own intuitive bullshit detector and see if it still rings true. Don’t follow the party line and accept any particular bit of knowledge just because “everyone” says it is so.
Only a Fool takes what he is handed without question.
Before the Age of Information all knowledge of the past and the present was controlled by the “powers that be”, the Conquers. On the large scale, the ruling class (be it kings or governments) and the Church controlled all of recorded History as well as contemporary information such as current contracts or land ownership. Anything that needed to be written down and logged in was theirs to manage and possibly manipulate, if it was in their best interests.
On the small scale, any information that you come across, through the media, cable TV, radio or (of course) the internet, comes to you through someone else’s perspective. In a sense they have conquered the data before you because they got it first. Watch the news, listen to the radio, look at web sites, all the information you receive, no matter how factual, is always at least mildly tainted by the source’s own point of view. Did you ever play that game where you sat in a circle of friends, one started by whispering a statement to the next and it was passed on around the circle? By the time it got back to the source, the statement was not as it started. This “POV Effect” happens any time knowledge is shared.
Now we are in the Information Age and it is harder for the ruling classes to obscure what they don’t want the common man to know. Now I’m sure by now you are thinking I’m some “out there” conspiracy theorist. Please believe I’m not. All I’m saying is that it may not be probable, but it is definitively possible. So, on the large scale and the small, always take what you are told with a grain of salt, shift it through your own intuitive bullshit detector and see if it still rings true. Don’t follow the party line and accept any particular bit of knowledge just because “everyone” says it is so.
Only a Fool takes what he is handed without question.
posted by Kevin Ruesch | 9:40 AM
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