Finding Clues

Decide what objects in your bedroom would help you determine who you are.

My computer, photo albums, literature, peculiar looking objects, small trinkets of seeming insignificance, objects in hidden locations

What problems would you experience when trying to do this?

Passwords that protect electronic devices, finding hidden locations in my room, differentiating between trivial and important items

How are they similar to those facing an historian?

Historians need to learn languages and forms of communication in order to understand historical civilizations, finding hidden or secure locations where important historical information can be found, deciding between what is relevant and irrelevant 

How good is your memory? How reliable is it as a guide to the past?

My memory is a reliable guide to the past only in terms of what I have experienced/witnessed or deemed necessary/important to remember 

If you keep a diary, what do you keep to include or omit?

I would include all interesting and successful features of my life and omit most mistakes or rather unfavorable situations. This, however, is natural and part of a person's desire to maintain their image of social elf. Lying or manipulating events is there to convince oneself. After that, it is easier to persuade others.

Would you be more inclined to trust an autobiography, or a biography written by an historian?

I would be more inclined to trust the biography because, despite it potentially lacking in personal experiences, it remains a much more factual setting with less deceiving emotions or the omission of unfavorable events (i.e. the autobiography of Gandhi gives much more personal views rather than his biography which represents his place and involvement in the larger events)

To what extend do you think people learn from their mistakes, or tend to repeat the same mistakes? 

I think that people tend to learn from their mistakes only if repetition causes personal harm or if improvement avoids this and potentially improves their own situation. Things that do not impact them negatively or impact them positively are prone to repetition, however, this may create problems for others.


                                  Quotes

‘Who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present control the past.’ Orwell, 1903-1950.

‘Those who don’t study the past are condemned to repeat it.’ Georges Santayana, 1863-1952

‘The only thing we learn form history is that we learn nothing from history.’ Hegel, 1770-1831

I agree most with the quote by Georges Santayana. This is because I believe that the bottom line of societal improvement is through education and that most past mistakes were as a result of the lack of public education. Informing people of this depravity is our best chance of avoiding it

To what extent is history influenced by the society and culture in which it is pursued? 
     The claims made in this article are; government textbooks are important to represent an unbiased history and instill national pride within the youth, and the opposition states, government regulated textbooks are a step back to totalitarianism and would present a biased and heavily edited version of history. The ways of knowing found within this issue are primarily of language. The information passed on through textbooks (language) are being influenced, therefore, this influences reader's perception of history. 3 possible knowledge questions could be (how is government regulated book control beneficial/harmful to the people?, in what ways can government regulation be used as a tool of power?, to what extent are future generations affected by government influences).