Are HISTORY and GOSSIP synonymous?

This week in class, we have been discussing oral histories. We are also preparing to start a project where we will interview someone and use their words to create an oral history. Through thinking about this project, I have started to think more and more about history and where/who it comes from. When we were younger, history came from our teachers and textbooks. We were taught to listen to these sources and believe them 100% of the time. Now, as we delve deeper and deeper into our studies, we have to wonder where this information is coming from.

 

I have been thinking about this for awhile now, and have been trying to think of a way to relate this idea to my life to put it into perspective. The parallel I came up with is gossip. Like most teenagers, I have heard my fair share of rumors. From my experience with gossip, it tends to be false in about 9 out of 10 cases. I think the reason this happens is because we tend to get our information from 1 or 2 exclusive sources and decide to listen to them blindly. If teenagers suddenly decided to start corroborating their sources and speak to 10 people (preferably who don't all talk to each other), they would find that most of what they are hearing is false.I have a feeling that, like gossip, many histories are one-sided and more of a variation on the story rather that the 100% truth.