Historical facts may be objective, but their interpretation remains subjective: the same stories are viewed very differently today than they were 100 years ago. Around history, mythologies, tales, films and even songs are developed. Some of these productions may refer to real stories, but their primary interest is to be relatable, to draw emotions and reflections from us, if not to teach us a lesson.
Some stories seem to repeat themselves, but we usually don't realize it until it's too late. Alea jacta est. Many authors detail economic, military and other recipes from history, and those who know them have an advantage over others as long as they are adept at recognizing the similarities of contexts. In fact, reconsidering contexts through re-enactments, "trials" or even uchronies enables us to better understand the past and the decisions that were made in it.
On the other hand, there are those who rewrite history and make it disappear whatever embarrasses them, generally whatever calls into question their legitimacy. It's hard to interpret correctly what's wrong in the first place; it always leads to a bad result. No useful history without faithful memory.
At present, when it comes to history, A.I. is anything but reliable. All it takes is for a false story to be sufficiently repeated for it to take hold. For the time being, A.I.'s critical spirit is essentially based on our own. Can A.I. write us educational tales based on our failings? Possibly, but we often ask it to invent different versions to suit ambitions that have nothing to do with historical reality. Hence the proposal to confront misinformation in order to develop immunity, a form of defense system, and come to identify what is reliable, a reality close to the original, with as few alterations as possible.
The past is made up of the traces we retain of it in the present, and it comes to life as soon as we look at it. We can do whatever we like with it, including playing with it and imagining a future.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: Grapfiti on the Berlin Wall - Pixabay
