Lexipedium:Objective historical analysis

Objectively analyzing history is a very hard thing to do for most, and there are several reasons why this is difficult.


 * POV of the historian - Since historians are (so far) humans born in a certain geographic area, inculcated with certain values, morals, and prejudices, it is almost impossible for them to be objective about their viewpoints on certain facets of history without applying a conscious effort to set aside their own viewpoints in favor of a detached perspective.


 * POV of the historian's peers - While the first point may be avoided by a single person consciously applying a detached point of view, most historical analysis produced for mass distribution often goes through a vetting process of more than one person, and while they may also be willing to set aside their own views for the sake of objectivity, it is just as hard to avoid slanting historical analysis with some sort of bias, especially if the peers in question are united behind certain views or ideology.


 * POV of the publishers - While the first two points can be avoided by conscious effort, the third hurdle for producing historical analysis can be hard to avoid in most professional historical analysis, since the publishers of the historical analysis may be inclined to meddle with the produced datum and slant it in a way that agrees with their own positions. This can be avoided by publishers being willing to abstain from such practices, but is otherwise difficult to avoid.


 * The times the history is analyzed - History is constantly happening, and while analysis of the American Civil War is somewhat easier to do in modern day, during the time the war took place if would have been quite difficult to maintain a detached perspective.


 * The information available at the time - Much like the various other branches of sciences, the social sciences can only be objectively quantified as well as is possible with the available datum at the disposal of the historian doing the analysis. If they do not have certain facts available that later invalidate their earlier work, it can introduce the false assumption of bias even though the analysis of the historical facts at hand was based on the best information available at the time.


 * The subject matter at hand - To be truly objective about historical analysis, it essentially requires any bias, positive or negative, to be eliminated from the analysis itself. For instance, the Holocaust is an extremely difficult subject to analyze without some bias, even when only trying to analyze the facts of the event itself, especially given the those who started that epoch of history and those that were affected by it.