User blog:Phlox/Dorothy Parker about biographies

I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.


 * Dorothy Parker

I wonder how many ancestors felt that way, with the willing complicity of worshipful descendants. Of course epistemologicaly speaking we are all stumbling along like Alice in our wonderland of myths, so I'm not advocating some singular interpretation of individuals. I just wonder how we will accomodate the competing myths. There are very different biographies of historical individuals portrayed alternately as saints or sociopaths, all based on strong primary evidence. There is no reason that we will fare better at getting to a unitary view of an ancestor especially given that family histories are usually composed of much more flimsy evidence. 17:05, 23 July 2009 (UTC)