This is fascinating, thank you Paul. I have never heard of Fomenko, appreciate you sharing his story. Also thanks for the offer of similar excellent illustrations. I have so many Substack questions for you I am not sure where to begin so will continue going through your old posts and may request an image someday, with your link attached.
Wow. What a terrific post. Great story about Fomenko....so much to consider. And I love how you weaved Chatgpt into the conversation. Could it provide clarity to historical research?
Also - thanks for the offer to create some AI images. I've really enjoyed some of the ones you have created for your other articles. I may take you up on your offer....of course with a link to you excellent newsletter. Thanks, Paul!
Thanks! Love the interview with ChatGPT. I call my new research assistant ChatGirl but I think you've brought forth ChatProfessor. The quality of questions determine the quality of answers. Fomenko's theories may not hold up but the questioning of time is bold and mind bending. Thanks for sharing.
I enjoyed reading this, but to Fomenko's credit, he does not use one, but several ways of determining chronology, including astrological information in old texts, maps, statistical analysis of global successive reigns/dynasties with 34 points of comparison per monarch, etc. Fomenko's History: Fiction or Science? in 8 volumes is a monumental work, profusely illustrated. All should know how our chronology was formed and it all goes back to Scaliger in the Middle Ages.
This is an important and timely essay, particularly as at the present time some Trump supporters are rewriting history to deny that they ever violated the Law on January 6, 2021.
Also, this article is relevant to so many domains. For example, consider an individual's medical and psychiatrtic history.
Most clinicians, before treating a patient, want to know the patient's case history.
Consider how debatable things are in compiling a psychiatric history.
For example, a patient may recall 1000 displeasing events in childhood. Which one's enter into the clinician's history and what goes into the scrap heap of forgotten incidents.
If a doctor is a Freudian, he might want to know about every incident in which a man's sexual self esteem was challenged and demeaned and he will put that in the psychiatric history. By contrast, if the doctor is a frigid feminist who hates male self assertion, she may disregard incidents in which a man's virility was made the object of fun because, in a word, she doesn't give a damn about male confidence.
ANOTHER VERY DIFFERENT EXAMPLE OF THE SAME THING: I recently saw a film, produced by the US Commerce dept in the 1950's, which said that there was a vast, wealthy Negro Upper Middle class which could comprise a huge market for business expansion. 10 years later, most economists said that blacks in this country were living in dire poverty. In large measure what people record in their histories is nothing but a reflection of what they want to see in history, and not what they really see.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE RELEVANT TO TODAY'S DEBATES ABOUT SEXUALITY: In the early 1960's, a boy in Canada suffered a botched circumcission; the penis was almost wholly destroyed. The family was referred to John Money of the John Hopkins Institute in Maryland.
John Money held that sexual identification was soley a matter of socialization. Tell the child he's a pretty girl, and give him dresses, and he'll act like a little debutante
The boy from Canada, whose penis was destroyed because of a botched circumcission, had the remains of the penis and the testes removed. A false vagina was constructed. He was shot up with female hormones and sent to a female shrink to facilitate his female identification
Money wrote reports for the next dozen years which stated that the boy was turning into a polished and suave little lady
In fact, when he went to kindergarten, he beat up all the boys and girls and said that when he grew up, he was going to be a "garbage man." I read his autobiography. If I recall correctly, it was entitled, "As Nature Made Me."
The moral of the story: You can' t trust the reports of "scientific experts" when their political agenda shapes their findings and makes their analysis faulty
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
Why did America suffer a disaster in Vietnam ??? Becasue General Harkings and Maxwell Taylor wanted to give the higher ups good news so they would get promotions. They continually inflated the numbers of N Vietnamese troops and Vietcong killed. All of our intelligence was faulty because our military compiled a fictitcious history of non existent triumphs over the communist insurgents.
Damn.
This is fascinating, thank you Paul. I have never heard of Fomenko, appreciate you sharing his story. Also thanks for the offer of similar excellent illustrations. I have so many Substack questions for you I am not sure where to begin so will continue going through your old posts and may request an image someday, with your link attached.
Thank you Donna! Glad you are liking my contribution.
Wow. What a terrific post. Great story about Fomenko....so much to consider. And I love how you weaved Chatgpt into the conversation. Could it provide clarity to historical research?
Also - thanks for the offer to create some AI images. I've really enjoyed some of the ones you have created for your other articles. I may take you up on your offer....of course with a link to you excellent newsletter. Thanks, Paul!
Funny, some times I think we don't really know anything. Take me up on the graphics offer anytime!
Thanks! Love the interview with ChatGPT. I call my new research assistant ChatGirl but I think you've brought forth ChatProfessor. The quality of questions determine the quality of answers. Fomenko's theories may not hold up but the questioning of time is bold and mind bending. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Joyce. Glad you enjoyed it. I appreciate the comment!
This was very interesting!
Thanks. Yes - makes you go hmmmm?
I enjoyed reading this, but to Fomenko's credit, he does not use one, but several ways of determining chronology, including astrological information in old texts, maps, statistical analysis of global successive reigns/dynasties with 34 points of comparison per monarch, etc. Fomenko's History: Fiction or Science? in 8 volumes is a monumental work, profusely illustrated. All should know how our chronology was formed and it all goes back to Scaliger in the Middle Ages.
Great comment. Thank you Leni!
This is an important and timely essay, particularly as at the present time some Trump supporters are rewriting history to deny that they ever violated the Law on January 6, 2021.
Also, this article is relevant to so many domains. For example, consider an individual's medical and psychiatrtic history.
Most clinicians, before treating a patient, want to know the patient's case history.
Consider how debatable things are in compiling a psychiatric history.
For example, a patient may recall 1000 displeasing events in childhood. Which one's enter into the clinician's history and what goes into the scrap heap of forgotten incidents.
If a doctor is a Freudian, he might want to know about every incident in which a man's sexual self esteem was challenged and demeaned and he will put that in the psychiatric history. By contrast, if the doctor is a frigid feminist who hates male self assertion, she may disregard incidents in which a man's virility was made the object of fun because, in a word, she doesn't give a damn about male confidence.
ANOTHER VERY DIFFERENT EXAMPLE OF THE SAME THING: I recently saw a film, produced by the US Commerce dept in the 1950's, which said that there was a vast, wealthy Negro Upper Middle class which could comprise a huge market for business expansion. 10 years later, most economists said that blacks in this country were living in dire poverty. In large measure what people record in their histories is nothing but a reflection of what they want to see in history, and not what they really see.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE RELEVANT TO TODAY'S DEBATES ABOUT SEXUALITY: In the early 1960's, a boy in Canada suffered a botched circumcission; the penis was almost wholly destroyed. The family was referred to John Money of the John Hopkins Institute in Maryland.
John Money held that sexual identification was soley a matter of socialization. Tell the child he's a pretty girl, and give him dresses, and he'll act like a little debutante
The boy from Canada, whose penis was destroyed because of a botched circumcission, had the remains of the penis and the testes removed. A false vagina was constructed. He was shot up with female hormones and sent to a female shrink to facilitate his female identification
Money wrote reports for the next dozen years which stated that the boy was turning into a polished and suave little lady
In fact, when he went to kindergarten, he beat up all the boys and girls and said that when he grew up, he was going to be a "garbage man." I read his autobiography. If I recall correctly, it was entitled, "As Nature Made Me."
The moral of the story: You can' t trust the reports of "scientific experts" when their political agenda shapes their findings and makes their analysis faulty
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
Why did America suffer a disaster in Vietnam ??? Becasue General Harkings and Maxwell Taylor wanted to give the higher ups good news so they would get promotions. They continually inflated the numbers of N Vietnamese troops and Vietcong killed. All of our intelligence was faulty because our military compiled a fictitcious history of non existent triumphs over the communist insurgents.
Great comment. Thanks for adding more value to this newsletter, David!