Image source Dall-e
It is actually an important question.... Honest
But why is it important?
Well if you are on a crowded elevator there is no denying that someone did it. In addition there is no dog nearby to blame it on. There is evidence that a crime has been committed yet who wants to own up to the fact? Likely no-one. No one can prove who did the deed and no-one wants to take the responsibility for it if they don't have to. Which is also why people may not even bother asking the question. It's pointless.
It is also why stores issue receipts.
Wait, what? How is that possibly related? Well, merchants don't like paying taxes and people like making returns. Still don't follow?
Receipts are proof that a transaction took place.
If you have a receipt for a new computer purchase on January 1st , 2025 a bunch of things happen.
- The government knows the sale took place so they can collect their taxes
- The customer has proof of the date the computer was purchased so they can countdown their warranty
- The customer has proof of the price that was paid and the date in case of return
- The vendor has given proof of the purchase so a random person can't come in with a computer and try to get a refund if it wasn't purchased at that store.
In short, it provides PROOF that something happened at a certain place in time. An historic event occurred. An incredibly minor historic event but still something worthy of being written down.
But why do we care?
Well, people are liars. If I were to ask the question "Do you lie" to 100 random strangers and they could only give YES or NO answers there would be 100 liars. There would be those who admitted to it and those who are lying. Which creates a problem. Society needs trust to function. We require history to make sense of the world. We rely on facts and procedures to create the things we rely on every day. Unfortunately no-one tells the truth except when its beneficial to us....or we can't get away with a lie.
That is where trust comes in.
Trust is the opposite of a lie. Trust is where you know someone will be true. They can be believed. It allows society to function properly
If my wife tells me something. I believe her. I have 26 years of trust built up. If I tell her something she trusts me too. Well, mostly if she asks me "Who farted"? She might not believe my answer because neither of us is perfect.
How about on major events
There are a lot of things written in history books or cited in references which have been called into question.
- What happened a Tiananmen square on June 3, 1989?
- What happened to Jewish people in Germany during World War 2?
- Did the United States fly people to the moon?
- Is the earth round?
- Do vaccines work?
For all of those questions I believe the history books and references. I am old enough to have seen people suffering from the effects of Polio. Indeed I vividly remember talking to a person at a campground decades ago about what happened to them. Today? No longer seen. Reason: There is an effective vaccine to eradicate the disease. When I hear those who disparage vaccines it makes me sad.
People are learning not to trust. Perhaps that's not quite right. Perhaps they are just putting their trust in social influencers who are spouting misinformation for personal gain. Perhaps they are just blindly believing those in power who tell half truths or outright lies because they don't dig deeper. Perhaps they don't realize that there is nuance in every story.
.... and there are two sides to every story
As an example: I absolutely believe that the Germans did horrible things to the Jewish in World War 2. Why? Because I've seen that Canadians did bad things to the Japanese during the same war. We had internment camps. Japanese people were stripped of their land, taken far away, and held against their will in camps. People who had done nothing wrong. Why do I believe this? I've seen the historic sites, I've heard the government apologies, but the biggest reason? My grandmother told stories of delivering mail to the people in the camp. She told stories of how their voices sounded melodious, like they were singing, even when they were just speaking.
If Canada did this and wasn't on the frontlines I absolutely believe that the Germans did worse
More than that I've been to memorials in both Japan and the Philippines. In the Philippines I was in the catacombs in Intramuros. Seen where the Japanese interrogated prisoners and seen news stories of the streets littered with dead bodies. Then less than a month later I was at a memorial in Japan where they told of the bombing of the city, how it was razed to the ground and people were running for their lives with their homes ruined. Both are true and both are different sides of the same coin.
- Vaccines are effective and save many lives but they are not infallible
- The US put men on the moon, but USSR put people into space earlier
Who do I trust?
When I look at a historic fact I like to weigh the evidence that I believe. I believe people are greedy. I believe governments want to spin things to make themselves look good. I believe that scientists honestly want to present facts...that fit their interpretation as best they can. I believe that corporations want to make profit. That is a lens I use when I'm deciphering what really happened.
But how about when I trust both parties and they tell me something different?
There is a historic event that matters to no-one but me and I have two reliable people who tell me different things.
What is the matter in question?
Was my father offered a spot on a professional football team? (BC Lions)
- My father says he was offered a spot on their special teams but turned it down as his wife didn't want him to be away from home all the time. I had just been born
- My mother says he tried out but didn't get the spot. She says she wanted him home, sure, but there is also prestige in being the wife of a professional athlete.
Do I believe my mother or father?
I will never know for sure. I do know my father was far more athletic than I have ever been. I've seen him run..and fast and I've seen how strong he was when he lifted a pony (well, he threw it actually but not very far). Could he have been a professional athlete? It is certainly possible.
But I also believe my mom. If she says it would have been prestigious to be the wife of a pro athlete that has the ring of truth. Normally I would believe that over my Dad's claims. But... I also know that mom can say things without a word.
My father may not have been directly told "Don't take the position" but may have known deep down that his responsibility was to his family so he turned down a position. It is also possible that there was more going on that my mom didn't know about. There could have been locker room issues or promises that were broken, conditional or ... well... I don't know, I've never been an athlete.
The end of the issue is: I will never know the truth of that moment.
Which leads me to....
The secret power of Hive
With modern skepticism over everything it is refreshing to have Hive. It is a social media platform which has no delete button. No-one can make a drunken post, delete it, and claim it never happened. No one can post a rant, a social slur, or state a belief and then delete it later. Every post is signed with a cryptokey and then it is timestamped and locked onto the chain. There are over 100 witnesses watching every block in countries all over the world. Sure only 20 do the stamp but everyone is watching and without a fork nothing gets deleted.
History books can be deleted. Facts can be questioned. Truth can be distorted. However, at least Hive locks everything in place. Censors can't come in and change the narrative if it doesn't fit the narrative they like.
That doesn't mean that everything written on Hive is true. I'm sure many lies are told here. However, I do believe that the evidence of those lies is locked in for as long as the chain exists.
In a world where trust and truth is in short supply I think that is very valuable indeed.
But of course those are just my opinions, I love to get feedback and feel free to disagree
Thanks for reading, appreciate the viewership.