What does it mean to KNOW the past?
We know the past because it's something we were told. But what if we had nothing to teach, or had reason to doubt what was out there?
This is part of my “Art of Noticing” series, in which I learn, find, or discover the things around me that usually go unnoticed and turn them into an endless source of creative inspiration.
Today I got to thinking about how we only know our collective history because someone told us it was true. It made me realize how much unintentional or deliberate misinformation might shape our everyday lives.
My wife and I recently started watching Silo on Apple+. One aspect of that show (and it’s not a spoiler) is that the silo’s society literally doesn’t know its past or how it got to where society is now, because their history was obliterated … and they’ve lived inside an enclosed silo ever since, afraid to go outside.
It got me thinking: What would it be like to live without knowing the past? And then I thought: Well, do we really know what we think we know about the past we’ve been given?
Let’s not go down the conspiracy rabbit hole, though, nor get too philosophical. The point is the creative lesson, and it’s that all of us work with what we have and nothing more … as do fictional people.
The characters in my stories are shaped by their perceptions, memories, and beliefs, whether they’re true, false, or intentionally manipulated?
It’s fascinating to consider, for storytelling reasons: Do we always know the difference between reality and perception? Do we really think about the potential gap between a character's true past and their understanding of it?
Here's how this "noticing" can benefit my stories and art:
Enemies Become More Relatable
When a character's actions are driven by their interpretation of the past rather than the actual events, it adds a layer of realism and humanity. A so-called “bad” character might grapple with regret, anger, or love based on memories that might be flawed or biased.
Think of your antagonists that way, and they stop being mustache-twirling boogeymen. In truth, no bad guy thinks he’s the bad guy. The antagonist is the hero of the story because they believe their version of events is true, and it’s the hero who’s got everything wrong.
Twists and Turns in the Plot
Moving from an ironclad backstory for my world into “perceived history” instead could be an absolutely fascinating device. It might also pave the way for unexpected plot twists. If a character (or the readers) suddenly discover the true nature of what they previously saw as “true” events, it’s the reversal of all reversals.
I keep thinking of the upheaval something like that would cause. All it would take would be for one bullshitty story to be replaced by another. Everything would change if that happened. EVERYTHING.
The lines dividing perception and reality are blurry at best. Sometimes, it’s even conscious: a character believing what they want to believe, consciously and willfully. By leveraging that fine line, writers can create stories that take readers to new places, and challenge their perception off the page as well.
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My husband’s sister, who is 6 years older than him, begged for voice lessons for years before their parents acquiesced when she was 13. She went on to become a semi-professional vocalist. At 7 years old, my husband noticed the lessons and concluded that if you could sing, someone carted you off to voice lessons as a teenager. When this failed to happen, he further concluded (wrongly but extremely firmly) that he must not be able to sing.
Weird little side story of a person’s creative development, but it matters that he interpreted the situation as a 7 year old, and through the rather self-absorbed lens that can be common in youngest children (especially as children).
I don’t know where I’m going with this exactly, except to say that these mistaken histories can shape all kinds of aspects of life. It wasn’t just the 7 year old version of him that was affected by this incorrect interpretation of what was happening around him... it lived on with him for literally decades and shaped numerous, if inconsequential, decisions.
Apropos:
https://mattpmn.substack.com/p/meaningless-computer-worlds-cognitive-science