Zen10

Every day is a slow news day in Australia because they never report anything that matters. It's what happens when one man owns 70% of the press.

KJCherokee

I just took this test and got 3 wrong:
I thought the majority of the NT population lived in Darwin,
I had no idea about the Torres Strait Islander flag, and
I didn't put "Britain had harsh laws" as well as "Overcrowded jails" as a reason for transportation.

Do I care? Not one iota.

GarryP

Does it?

Really?

I know its all very happy clappy to claim that, but the reality is some stuff makes a difference, and much of it does not.

Zen10

Give me an example of history that doesn't matter to anyone.

GarryP

The statement was 'make a difference' and if you want a germane example, Australia prior to discovery by Cook - excepting geology and differential evolution.

Zen10

Making a difference to what? Sounds like you're focussing on industrial or technological history. Pre-Cook Australia has a fascinating history.

KJCherokee

Considering that the prime definition(s) of "history" involve the written account, anything prior to the Cook landing has to be considered as 'pre-history'.

From Collins English Dictionary

Definitions
noun
(plural) -ries
1.
a.a record or account, often chronological in approach, of past events, developments, etc
b.(as modifier) ⇒ a history book, a history play
2.all that is preserved or remembered of the past, esp in written form
3.the discipline of recording and interpreting past events involving human beings

The 'history' of Australia prior to the first European arrivals (pre-Cook) is from Dreamtime legends (which are hardly factual) and modern interpretation of archeological artifacts - fascinating, yes, but not 'history'.

weenetty

Looks like I will need to study hard if I'm to pass if and when the time comes lol it's funny as I was having a convo with some clients about this recently (all Australian) and they admitted they wouldn't know half the answers and to be fair I'm ashamed to say if I had to do the same for the uk I'd probably fail that also I was crap at history at school too lol

Zen10

That's just semantics. We're talking about recorded events, and I include stories handed down verbally otherwise we dismiss native North American and Aboriginal culture out of hand as "unfactual", which is absurd.

KJCherokee

There is a huge difference between culture, which is the way people live their lives, and recorded events which is history. The Aboriginal peoples have a distinct culture but what evidence is there that the culture they practice nowadays (and in the past 200+ years of recorded history) is the same culture they practiced 400 or 500 years ago? Their culture (and that of other indigenous peoples) has been passed down by word of mouth over the generations and embellished by each succeeding generation as all such stories are.

Zen10

I quite agree with your definitions here, and the fastest way round this is to make the earlier question read "what part of our cultural story is not important to anybody?" instead. That gets to the point better.

GarryP

My standard is quite simple. Do your Dr Who bit and remove the item of history from the world. Would anyone really notice the difference?

Kinda the definition of 'make a difference' I'd say.

Zen10

I cannot think of a part of history I could remove from the world without it making a difference.

carolinephillips

100% - just as well as I'll soon be doing the test for real.

BadgeIsBack

Based on the op's description, this would be appalling reporting, tabloid news at its worse, and even by Australian standards low.

Even with the advent of Australia Day it's poor. Even a joke about cricket might be in order.

I can't even open a tabloid paper these days.