What is the Historian's Illusion?
You write a history. You cover every disaster over an entire continent, for 100 years, and of course it sounds bad.
That's the Historian's illusion!
Like, for example, covering America in the 1950's and 1960's.
'It was horrible. There was the Cold War, there was the Korean War, there was the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was the Vietnam War.'
But it was not horrible for the kid turning sweet 16 in the Eisenhower years listening to Chuck Berry in their 57 Chevy watching Leave it to Beaver!
And it was not horrible for the kid immersed in Beatlemania in 1965, driving their Little Deuce Coupe and watching Gemini astronauts go up!
It was not horrible in the Camelot years of Kennedy, or in the Summer of Love!
That's the historian's illusion!
If all you do is list the Cold War, and the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, you are missing all the good stuff!
For 20 years across more than an entire continent is a lot of room for a lot of stuff to happen!
If you write a history and just list all the bad stuff, you will miss most of what people are experiencing!
That's the Historian's Illusion!
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson