Points:
Historical knowledge should never be intentionally distorted in society - because: truth has an intrinsic value
 - because: transmission of distorted historical knowledge renders later generations of a nation unable to know their real historical genesis and identity
- because: if history is distorted it prevents people from learning the lessons of history, or distorts those lessons
- Cause: history should be what it is originally to reflect the past and contribute to the future
- because: to deny or distort certain historical truth is a regression of human civilization
- because: to convey distorted historical knowledge in the society is a tyrannical practice
- because: everyone, as a rational being, has the right to know the real face of the past instead of being indoctrinated any false belief
- because: to deny or distort certain historical truth means that the nation does not have the courage to face certain past and refuse to learn from it
- because: to deny or distort certain historical truth is a disrespect to other cultures and nations, e.g. massacre, invasion
- but: history is often studied for a purpose, and the purpose may be more important than historical accuracy
 - because: history may be taught to different people for different purposes
 - because: in primary schools, history may be taught to form historical consciousness and social identity
 - because: at university history may be taught to improve critical thinking and research skills
- because: history may be taught and studied to increase patriotism, and might be distorted to hide events that would cause guilt or blame
- because: For instance, the Nanking Massacre, which has given the Chinese too much hurt, should never be sunk into oblivion.
- but: there does not exist any objective, genuine historical knowledge
 - because: historical knowledge is fundamentally perspectival in nature
- but: even it is acknowledged that the interpretations do play a role in its truthfulness, it doesn't mean that historical knowledge can be entirely fictional
 - because: we do to a certain extent, share together a common conception of truthfulness about history
- because: whether a event is relevant to the bigger picture, different events are casually connected or not, are all subjected to the interpretation of the historians
- but: historical movies frequently distort history in order to make a better movie, and movies are cultural artefacts and so part of society
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35 hits by logged in students since 30 Oct 2008
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Email: goodpoint@elc.polyu.edu.hk
