Given that photos and videos can be easily faked, and written souces are even more biased, how can we know that everything we learn about history was actually real and not made up?
Actually many historians do take that skeptical view, although if you only have limited sources, you make the best conclusions you can.
How can mirrors be real if my eyes aren't real?
There's a Russian guy who says the middle ages never happened:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Chronology_(Fomenko)
>>1414072
What about three source rule? Sure, it's not applicable everywhere but it's generally considered to be a solid proof of something actually taking place, isn't it?
>>1414085
Russian """scholars""" coming from engineering background are the worst.
>>1414094
I think Russia really leads the world in crackpot theories, the amount of absolute bullshit they produce is spectacular and amazing. Everything from telekinesis and magical healing through aliens and ancient Hyperborean Slavic Aryan to shit like this.
>>1414107
I don't have any proof on that but I strongly suspect that it has something to do with the fact that Russians eliminated their own philosophical school and humanities education in general. They've got way too many people with purely technical background trying to switch to philosophy and that just doesn't seem to work well.
Or maybe I'm overanalyzing things, I don't know.
You corroborate multiple sources and any physical evidence available.
>X and Y and Z all report a significant battle occurring at site a.
>Go to site a
>Find evidence of a battle
>Conclusion: there was likely a battle
>>1414107
I do not know enough about Russia, but thought the same about America. Illuminati, repitilian overlords, aliens, new world order and so on and so on all seem to come from there.
In my own country it seems to be the religious who believe in the illuminati.
Lastly I think that African countries have their share of crackpot theories if the ebola conspiracy theories are any indicator.
Well back in the day you could find physical evidence and then corroborate with letters and diaries that you test for being fake.
In future history will be rewritten like 1984 because it will all be what people can find on google, nothing else.
>>1414059
Critical thinking skills and the historical method
>>1414107
Also, the Soviet and Tsarist regimes had a really bad habit of distorting the truth, covering it up, and producing misinformation and disinformation. Wouldn't be surprised that the Russian people, over time, have developed an extremely paranoid view of everything that is not directly before their eyes.
>>1414325
Russians don't mind lying at all, in fact they almost consider it a virtue so yes, that might indeed be the case. "If we constantly lie, why wouldn't everyone else do the same?"
>>1414059
Do you have any OC on this OP?
>>1414059
We dont we have no idea if most of history were lies made up by the guys who won.
>>1414291
this is the only worthwhile answer in this thread
t. actual historian
>>1414235
American here. No academic institution tolerates that crap - it's barely even in media for the most part. There's shit like Ancient Aliens every few years and some bad history book will trend once a decade but just to reassure you, only extremely crazy or poor/undereducated people here actually believe that crap. Also it's a transatlantic trade, euro crackpots export their insanity here to gestate and fester
