About six months ago my father forwarded me an e-mail message that was a hoax. This message detailed the life of those who guarded the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C. The message stirred the soul and made you feel a sense of deep respect for the many soldiers who died in combat As beautiful as the message was, the real problem with it was that it contained many outright lies. Very little of its contents were rooted in reality.
I was very disappointed when I discovered the truth. Something in the message made me think that I should check out the validity of its contents. According to the official Web site for the tomb of the Unknown Soldier many of the statements in the e-mail were proved to be false.
This little episode made me realize one of the big problems with the information glut is that many myths and lies may be deemed to be the truth by people in the future. With so many people writing things today, how will historians in the future know what to accept as valid historical facts? Will the glut of information make it almost impossible for people to tell what actually happened as the Information Age explodes around the world?
In ancient history, many things were passed down verbally or through pictures. There were some written records. But these were recorded by scholars in many cases who diligently worked to preserve its integrity. The number of people writing gibberish who then tried to pass it off as truth was rare. Sure there was propaganda and lies. But there was not the ease of communication then that there is today. This freedom also makes it easy for a lie to influence people and become reality in the minds of many people if they accept it as truth.
Will our history be preserved? Or will hoax and myth dilute the power of our present? I guess it all depends on how well people in the future screen their sources.
The truth about the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and those who guard it today can be found at http://www.tombguard.org/FAQ.html
