In our ever-developing society, Abbie Casson gives an insight into why taking time to judge the past has a significant place in bettering the present. 6th Form student at Taunton School. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
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TEDx Talks
03/08/2025
TEDx Talks
03/08/2025
14 Comments
@TetsuoVI
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMWell spoken but her logical argument os both incorrect and a strawman in nature. Presentism is not what happens when trying to learn from historical mistakes. Epistemological practices are used all the time to both understand and grow from the example of history. Presentism goes a step further muddying the waters of historical accuracy and insight, casting value on them before an expansive investigation of the facts and is thus influences any sober judgements which could be made based on the evidence and is thus a wrong practice for anyone looking at history in any serious manner. Leave shame to the clergy.
@felipeandino7263
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMThis has aged well 😂
@CabVideoz
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMThe term 'presentism' is mostly a pejorative by the Right (incl Bill Maher yes) with the intent to neuter criticism of existing hierarchies. Yes it's important to judge the past but also EVERYONE DOES THIS. Literally everyone. How do you know Nazism is bad? Or 'Communism'? Or Capitalism? Or Liberalism? Cause you saw past actions that you judged by your current standards. And yes, we too will be judged by those after us. It's the way of things. It's called progress and it's what the critics of so-called 'presentism' are really attacking. This is part of why they disdain the speaker here as "naive", "blind" and "self righteous" [sic]. It's projection and just flat-out reactionary in a lot of these snarling comments.
But yeah moral judgments of history are unavoidable (again – Conservatives judge Stalin and Mao right? They judge the Iranian Revolution, and even often the Enlightenment itself so again we ALL do it) and it's really only being condemned when one side of the aisle is being critical toward parts of the past and it's obvious why. Glad you presented Abbie and I hope you're well!
@craigthompson3739
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMSo all history will have to be condemned, and I guess future generations will condemn us. Judging others is a useless practice. Judging history is even more useless. The trick is not to judge but to understand. Abbie is young, pretty, and naive, bless her heart.
@benlunch7618
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMHere is why her idea DOESNT work: 1) Our schools dont teach that way about others (specially not the third world). 2) When a country ISNT a liberal democracy they dont air their secrets in public. What you get thus would for example in the Cold War be a situation where USA would constantly apologize for things they did while Soviet Union and China would apologize for nothing they did… Her ideas are just thinly veiled anti-west propaganda.
@nathantripathy
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMShe makes a compelling case for not treating Presentism as a binary yes or no/ pro or anti.
When I think about Presentism (and I think others do too), I think specifically of applying broad stroke moral condemnation to all of the past for specifically being less than today. I think of NOT putting the past into it's context and instead only judging by a specific modern critique.
To illustrate an example: Truman ordered that Hiroshima and Nagasaki be struck by atomic bombs.
1. By modern standards one could see that act as heinous and akin to genocide and stop there.
2. Reflecting on the context, one could say that he saved millions of lives by making the choice he did vs an actual invasion of Japan.
3. To add complexity one could add the theory that Japan surrendered due to the Soviet declaration of war against them, not the atomic bombs which makes Truman's act again seem over the top.
4. Finally we can add then point out that the firebombing of Tokyo was just as deadly or more than either individual atomic bomb dropping and they become somewhat less impactful relative to the rest of the war effort.
The issue is that the use of Presentism has some goods, but it encourages people to stop learning before acquiring a more circumspect view.
@starwish2467
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMA case of 'The blind leading the blind'! She will change her feelings as she matures, and has some real world living experience. But, she is trying.
@userhome3601
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMIf anyone believed that morals/ethics change with the passage of time, then they would insist that laws have an expiration date.
@liseagnant4161
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMHindsight is 20/20
@deebee4575
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMEven Bill Maher, a screaming liberal has pointed out how ridiculous this concept is. Presentism is no longer a working concept.
@Gitohandro
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMWTF this has nothing to do with Presentism (A-Theory)
@MrMattias87
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMhmmmm….i agree with learning from the past in order to shape and better the future (which we're all doing right now) but to seek apology from the present day generation over a past event is questionable considering that nobody of the present existed back then except our ancestors, relatives etc. We can only acknowledge the past, learn from it and then work together to better shape our future so that these wrong doings that were practiced in the past dont happen again.
In order for something terrible or amazing to happen the people involved needs to be present at that time…not before and not after. What one needs to remember is that moral standards and beliefs back then were far different than compared to now in our present time of this generation in which is we've all progressed and modernised ourselves.
@generaltso8278
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMjudging the past by modern morals is not fair. If concepts like civil and human rights did not exist. how can one know to aspire to live up to them. its kind of foolish. You examine yourself you said. well try having some empathy. put yourself in the mindset of someone that does not know any better…. you would probably behave similarly. take slavery 400 yrs ago it was an institution it was your divine right bc your religion was righteous or your
nation was more powerful. if you were born in that time grew up there you would take slaves and sell them just like they did… its this misconception and self righteousness that prevents you from realizing that if you were there and of that time you would've done the same thing. Try objectivity it helps.
@alexanderwasley5105
03/08/2025 - 2:16 PMNo actual defense of presentism here. Beyond this, millions of deaths from disease and eventually integration is not genocide. Invading neighbors was not unique in Cortez’s time, in fact the invaded peoples had been doing so and enslaving their neighbors for centuries. Cortez, conquistadors and European conquered in general get heat for nonexistent brutally, in reality, they were just better at what they did. Further, the American people have a right to a safe country, your open immigration “nirvana” would collapse in a matter of months.