Historical Perspectives and Historical Empathy

Historical perspectives are hard for most people to take, and for good reason. None of us were around for most of the events being studied! It’s very hard to put yourself in the shoes of an Aztec warrior preparing for battle, or in the shoes of a mad Nazi scientist like Josef Mengele performing morally abhorrent experiments on humans. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should not try to imagine what these historical events were like, and how they differ from the present. This is the core foundation of historical empathy. Historical empathy is vastly different than emotional empathy. To be historically empathetic, you must not only try to imagine what people from a specific time were *feeling*. Instead, try to take in as many elements from that time period as you can. Religious differences, beliefs and ideologies, as well as environmental factors can all be determinants in what caused someone to take an action. Whether it be a powerful political leader, a peasant, or a tribesman, humans will always make decisions that have been influenced by their surroundings. Historical empathy is crucial in finding what caused a decision to be made, and what likely did not have an effect.