Tracy,

>I don't know how anyone in the future could ever actually 'know' the truth of what occured in the past let alone its causes. If you take just those on the UT today and ask their viewpoint of current events and their causes and the effect today you will receive as many different 'first hand accounts' as there are members!

Very true. Physics teaches that the appearance and manifestation of phenomenon are absolutely linked to the perspective of the observer. How much more true in the realm of Human Perspective? Isn't it interesting how those who hold "fact" to be of high value desire to convert such subjective awarenesses into fact, while those who hold "perception" to be of high value desire to convert facts into their opinions? (that's gotta be a red flag..<g>)

History seems to be more the "notion" of who we are, rather than the "fact" of who we are. If our notions of who we are as individuals don't change and undergo transformations of growth we stagnate. To place too much importance on "events of the Past" as causative agents for the Present is to reinforce the reinactment of the Past. People who spend too much attention wondering "what went wrong" in their Past find it virtually impossible to shift their attention to how to make the Present "right". History CAN repeat itself. It can also move into new directions.

You pegged a key issue in this entire realm of speculation: "ask their viewpoint" is precisely the issue at hand. We all proffer our own unique perspectives as candidates for Ultimate Truth :0) Viewing ANYTHING from someone else's viewpoint CAN be very enlightening. That is, hopefully, the motive here at the UT, and I generally enjoy it very much.

David