History and Fiction: The Blurring Lines in the Digital Age

Within 100 years, popular culture and history may merge into one giant game of "Telephone" or "Chinese Whispers." With the push to diversify countries and the influence of meme culture, much of what is currently believed to be accurate history could be lost.

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Abraham Lincoln: A Case Study

Take Abraham Lincoln, for example. Multiple fictional stories have been told about him, including films such as Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Although you and I know that these are works of fiction, as time moves forward and more fictional content is generated, the chances increase that elements of such stories could be injected into real history.

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Napoleon Bonaparte: Fact vs. Fiction

This concept is already observable with Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution. He is often depicted as a very small-statured man when, in fact, he was pretty average for people in that era. The myth that Napoleon was exceptionally short is largely a result of a mix-up between French and English measurement units and political propaganda. This example shows how the mixing of cultures and political propaganda that sprouted memes can influence history in a way that modifies modern perception.

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The Digital Age and Rapid Information Spread

Films have only been around for about 130 years and the internet for around 40 years for commercial use. We know that with the invention of the internet, information is generated and spread faster than ever before. There are 3.7 million videos uploaded daily to YouTube and 1 billion videos being viewed per day on TikTok. It's estimated that YouTube will grow by 10% in the year 2026, and TikTok will see around 20% growth. The reason I mention this is to illustrate the growth of these platforms in two years compared to a timeframe of 100 years.

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The Role of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence will also play a major role in changing people's perceptions of the past. As time moves forward, people will rely more and more on LLM (Large Language Models) to provide them with their news, entertainment, and general information. The problem is that these models can only be as accurate as the datasets they are trained on and the limitations placed on them.

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Cultural Mixing and Historical Perception

Diversification and cultural mixing may also be another factor for different versions of history mashing together. A person in Europe may have a different view on a historical event than someone in Asia. Abraham Lincoln would not hold the same historical value to non-Americans. This is how we get to the game of "Telephone" or "Chinese Whispers": one culture spreading misinformation about historical events and people over a long period of time. This could be intentional (propaganda) or completely by accident.

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Conclusion: A Fragmented Historical Narrative

In the end, we might find ourselves in a world where a multicultural, diverse population lives together with a mixed and modified past. Instead of knowing the complete truth about their history, they will only have snippets of exaggerations, resulting in a tapestry of shared yet fragmented historical narratives. This mosaic of history will be fascinating, yet perhaps a little unsettling—a blend of myth and reality that keeps us guessing about the true stories of our past. 

- Circuit Surfer ⎐⎏⎐⎏