2024-02-04 19:20:00
The easiest is to surf the internet and social media to describe fake newsfalsified facts, conspiracy theories, pseudoscientific views. Easy but also unscientific. The history of man already from ancient times gives many such examples.
The exhibition is revealing “Fake (f)or Real: stories of forgery and falsification” presented by the House of European History in Brussels and the Telloglio Arts Foundation AUTH in Thessaloniki until June 16, 2024. Visitors have the opportunity to discover the fascinating history of forgery and its evolution from the time of the Roman Empire to the present, exploring over 100 exhibits from six different time periods, films and even interactive games.
Stories of voyages that never happened, a fake army used by the Allies in World War II, the letters used to accuse the Alfred Dreyfus in one of the biggest international miscarriages of justice in the late 19th century. Also, an anonymous manuscript that accused the apothecary David Wellman of being an alchemist in 1642 and which started a legal adventure that ended in his execution.
And that was all? As the valuable navigation guide on “Pseudoscience and Conspiracy Theories” (from the University Press of Crete edited by Manolis Pleionis), conspiracy theorists claim that unidentified flying objects are depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings as well as in frescoes and paintings of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. For example, in the Renaissance painting “Madonna with St. Giovannino” and the tapestry “Triumph of Summer”, 1538. Or are we forgetting the pseudoscientific facts about the climate crisis and how these are exploited by institutional centers?
However, behind the anecdotal side of the matter there are human tragedies, as mentioned in a conversation by Joanna Urbanek, curator of the exhibition, which was presented for the first time at the House of European History – a historical museum in Brussels, which focuses on recent European history and the process of European integration. “Remember that witch hunt, people who died, scientists who were recognized after death. Every change causes defenses, every revolution brings fear, people are wary and look for defenses against the new. But how are these fears addressed? Can we learn from history that we have nothing to fear from progress?”
Another lesson from historical study is that in all ages there will be conspiracy theories, witch hunt, distortions of the scientific discourse, forms of cancel culture, as it is called in the age of the Internet. Well, yes, what is said about the education of society and especially the younger generations is true. But the world moves forward when there are politicians with vision, punch and ignorance of political costs.
#aliens #caves