Re:Why history is always political
by delichon on Friday December 27, 2024 @02:10PM
(#42525090)
Thermodynamics. Politics is about the struggle to control the flow of energy between organisms. History is about creating narratives of that struggle, in order to learn to tap the flow or to direct it. To a first approximation, a history that's disinterested in politics is like a football game commentary that's disinterested in the score.
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Re:Why history is always political
by devindotcom on Friday December 27, 2024 @02:38PM
(#42525326)
I realize this is largely a lost battle but strictly speaking "disinterested" means no interest in the sense of "conflict of interest." A disinterested party has no "interest" in one outcome over another and can therefore be trusted to be impartial in the matter. "Uninterested" means what you wrote, they are not interested in something in the more everyday sense of the word. Not everyone thinks it matters but the two words do have distinct meanings, and in some situations (like in conversations about values, politics, etc) it is actually worthwhile to be precise so that one does not inadvertently mislead the reader.