by Brandon Romines

Created on: February 08, 2010

 As Adolf Hitler said, "The victor will never be asked if he told the truth." History does tend to become distorted in favor of the powerful. Distortion can easily occur without direct influence as well. Anyone familiar with the 'telephone game' knows firsthand the transformation a single phrase can undergo when transmitted through a chain of people. Embellishment, miscommunication, and outright deception all skew the remembrance of world events. Memories themselves can change and our very feelings can alter our perception of experiences. These intentional and unintentional changes alike drastically limit the ability of history to be objective.

The telephone game is a perfect example of people unintentionally altering information. To start the game one person begins by telling another a word of phrase. This phrase is then repeated to each successive individual,.Generally the final person repeats a phrase that only slightly resembles the initial phrase. Though not purposely people can subconsciously substitute words or letters. Any information that is not recorded, and depends directly on oral passage, is very unreliable even when immediately repeated.

Things get lost and people forget. Memories are not static and unchanging like photographs. Even complete memories, may not truly be what happened. History is changed more easily than the future. The more time to pass between an event and its documentation, the less is accurate. Even if the information recorded is accurate, the never ceasing passage of time ensures it will eventually be forgotten, or become so distorted it is no longer history. Merely a myth or legend with naught but a grain of truth.

Many times throughout history, powerful figures have destroyed and altered many documents. Governments have used propaganda to alter public opinion since they began. The bible, for example, was altered by Constantine. The Catholic Church was responsible for thousands of books destroyed. Destroying information is the quickest way to change the past. Lies and forgery can be discovered, ashes are harder to piece together. Information has also traditionally been recorded by the powerful. Until this new age of technology, the government and the church basically controlled the past. Now, mass accessibility and websites such as this are actually the worst enemy to objectivity in history. Now accurate information must be filtered from the world wide web. Wikipedia supplies a lot of people with information. This information can be changed by anyone, at anytime, into anything.People usually think of the history and the past as an absolute. Truly, history is constantly changing and being made. Regardless of our best efforts, we will never be able to view it objectively. Everyone now shares the ability to record history.

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