# Can we really trust Historians? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 19, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147 "2012-09-19T07:03:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/21 "2012-09-19T22:16:51Z")
Some of us are pretty trustworthy. Some aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/22 "2012-09-20T00:58:36Z")
I picked up a great book in the clearance bin. “Founding Myths” about the founding fathers. If you have been educated in the usual way about the American Revolution, this will burst your history believing bubble quite thoroughly. In short, you will look at history and news with great skepticism. Like a historian would. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/23 "2012-09-20T01:00:26Z")
I trust some historians. I wouldn’t trust any Historians. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/24 "2012-09-20T03:30:58Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > I trust some historians. I wouldn’t trust any Historians. Do you trust any psychohistorians? Do you trust any psycho historians? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/25 "2012-09-20T03:51:57Z")
You can trust historians for the same reason you can trust scientists. The culture LOVES to prove error and the research/results are often concrete. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/26 "2012-09-20T04:11:27Z")
I trust them to pick facts that suit their narrative and ignore everything else. I don’t trust any historian who has written a non critical account of any American presidency since Grover Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/27 "2012-09-20T04:16:37Z")
You shouldn’t trust historians any more than you trust scientists. You’re not supposed to believe them on faith. Any historian or scientist who isn’t backing up what they say with evidence doesn’t deserve their title. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/28 "2012-09-20T04:17:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > James Loewen has made a career with books like [Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong](http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/1595583262/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348062963&sr=1-2&keywords=james+loewen) and [Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong](http://www.amazon.com/Lies-Across-America-Historic-Sites/dp/074329629X/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348062963&sr=1-4&keywords=james+loewen) pointing out biases and inaccuracies in what we’re taught about American history. > [@Diceman](#): > > For example, much of what we “know” about the Middle Ages in Europe is highly distorted. [This Listverse list](http://listverse.com/2009/01/07/top-10-myths-about-the-middle-ages/) has a good summary of some of the top misconceptions. Many of these misconceptions come from the Renaissance era, when many intellectuals/historians were actively trying to make earlier times look bad. Frankly, works and websites like these are amongst the historical works I would be _least_ inclined to trust. That is not to say that their claims are necessarily all wrong, but they do clearly have an axe to grind, and they are using the powerful rhetorical strategy of enticing you to think that you are special because you are being let in on secrets that (so you are told) most people don’t know, and that “the man” does not _want_ you to know. All the ostentatious show they make of revealing other people’s biases is designed to distract you from noticing their own biases. Also, I often find that the “myths” that are being debunked are myths that I (and, I expect, most people) either never heard of at all or never really believed in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![moonshot925](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@moonshot925](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonshot925)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/29 "2012-09-20T04:59:23Z")
Russia (USSR) was not crucial to winning WW2. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/30 "2012-09-20T06:01:17Z")
> [@moonshot925](#): > > Russia (USSR) was not crucial to winning WW2. OK, so we here have at least one unreliable historian 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shearer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/57b2e6/32.png) [@Shearer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shearer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/31 "2012-09-20T09:25:39Z")
> [@Hallucinex](#): > > OK, so we here have at least one unreliable historian 🙂 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147/32 "2012-09-20T10:21:19Z")
> [@moonshot925](#): > > Russia (USSR) was not crucial to winning WW2. This is threadshitting. The topic is the reliability of historians, not the odd beliefs of people who do not actually grasp history. Knock it off. [/Moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-really-trust-historians/635147.md?page=1)