Old school textbooks
I like old school textbooks. First, they remind me of my childhood. They are like a fetish, or a talisman. Second, even though they are out of date, old - even obsolete - scholarship is still scholarship. Third, I especially like history textbooks - both ones that I used and ones I didn't - because History was/is my favourite school subject. I loved the bejesus out of the books I personally used. Fourth, like an old school Atlas, old textbooks tell us (remind us) what we knew then, not so long ago. We knew it then with the same certainty that we think we know what we know today. So, I admire all manner of textbooks from different subjects and different levels of schooling. I used to collect them, until ...
These photographs are some of the History textbooks I've owned. Currently, only The Enduring Past by John Trueman, an early high school book, is still in my possession.
Is the information school children receive today more reliable than the information we received in our own childhood? No, not at all.
Every generation believes its world to be changing faster than the last, and with a greater clarity of purpose. But we make a mistake if we think our times necessarily contain more valuable knowledge. That's a transparent conceit. Is the information school children receive today more reliable than the information we received in our own childhood? Largely no, not at all. The information youngsters currently receive will ultimately fail the test of time. It always does, and that's natural.
Our contemporary thinking will probably seem quite revolting to our grandchildren. They will gasp at our evil and stupidity. But I reject the notion that we should start feeling ashamed of ourselves pre-emptively.