Guy Kawasaki's Remarkable People Sam Wineburg: History professor, author, truth-seeker, and Wikipedia fan
Jun 10, 2020
Sam Wineburg, Stanford history education professor and researcher on historical thinking and online credibility. He explains why stories help facts stick. He shows how to evaluate online claims, why Wikipedia can be a useful starting point, and offers practical lateral-reading checks to spot dubious sites.
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Narratives Make Facts Stick
- Facts stick when placed inside narratives rather than memorized as isolated dates or names.
- Sam Wineburg argues stories and context make historical knowledge usable for civic decisions.
Son's Question Exposed A Missing Narrative
- Wineburg recounts his son asking whether the Korean War came before or after World War II while cramming for AP History.
- The question revealed his son's lack of a coherent narrative of 20th-century American history.
Avoid Total Distrust Trap
- Don't fall into 'trust compression' and conclude nothing is trustworthy; that benefits disinformation actors.
- Rely on credible institutions (e.g., CDC, Mayo Clinic) for expert guidance rather than fringe sources.
