Understanding People in Their Own Time
Understand that people in the past saw the world very differently from us — judge their actions by the context they lived in, not only by today's values
What a learner can do afterwards
- Historical Empathy: A Cognitive-Affective Theory (ERIC)
- Year 4-6 historical empathy research
The lesson
People who lived long ago did not know everything we know today. They believed different things were true, and they thought different things were normal. When you look back at their choices, ask what they knew and believed at the time, not just what we know now.
In the 1800s, doctors did not wash their hands before treating patients. This was not because they did not care about their patients. Nobody had discovered germs yet, so nobody knew that dirty hands could spread sickness.
Before you judge someone from the past, ask yourself one question: what did people know or believe back then? That question helps you understand them fairly.
People in the past acted on what they knew and believed at the time, so understand them through their own eyes, not just yours.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.