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From: Jeff Scism <>
Subject: [DNA-R1B1C7] History as we know it
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2007 07:51:22 -0700
References: <072220071337.25158.46A35DAD000A46CE0000624622007507840A049D0A0304@comcast.net>
In-Reply-To: <072220071337.25158.46A35DAD000A46CE0000624622007507840A049D0A0304@comcast.net>


Linda, you make some well thought out points.

My reference was to the "general' trend of history as taught, vs history
as learned.

What people 'learn' is based on their personal interests, and comes
usually as a follow-on to formal education. Schooling can only be a
starting point, and it is self interest that motivates learning to a
depth that is considered to be 'knowledgeable.' It often takes many
years to get to an understanding the motivations, and reasons we seek.

'You can lead a horse...', but a horse will only drink when it has a thirst.

All of the well thought out works you mentioned are "specific" history,
aimed at illuminating, and teaching, but not in a "textbook" manner.
They may end up in a school library, but not in the classroom, unless
there is a teacher who 'adds' them to the books determined to meet the
state standards, in other words, not classroom fare. The general
population will not see them on the 'standards list'. The formulaic text
books that are adopted in today's schools are so general that they can
only mention what are highlighted events, and because of the inability
to evolve the presentation, it is obsolete, even before the books are
printed.

My point is that history 'bullets' (not including the social dynamics of
cause and effect, nor relating them to the events) are the standard
fare. Deep study, and development of a self motivation, comes from
personal interest and involvement, and is usually self-taught. That is
what the genealogists (family historians) are doing.

The deep research many genealogists (family historians) engage in,
including the dna studies, group migrations, social reasoning, and other
aspects of social study, are creating a more complete view of history,
and the records being shared, via this medium, are more palatable than
the books and methods used to teach a whole state of students to a
'standard' that can be compared and graded in a multiple choice #2
pencil test.(The goal of public education is that test.)

Self-motivated focused learning, and diverse research methods, will lead
to a specific and concise result - and the trend in family histories is
toward a better 'picture' of society than just a family tree chart.
Genealogy is developing into a records based history, more than "just a
record" of who, where and when. It is becoming a study in sociology,
rather than a record of records.

Scholars will always be appreciated, but they are not as common as the
person on the Internet, and in the libraries, archives, cemeteries, and
repositories, doing 'grunt' work, and building a chain of documents,
sources and compiling a 'history' that is readable, interesting,
accessible and educational.

The competent researcher will develop the facts and narrate a good
story, whether he is called historian, genealogist, or scholar.


Respectfully,

Jeff Scism, IBSSG

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