Why History Gets Distorted
Why History Gets Distorted: From Myths to Memes
Intro:
History isn’t just about facts. History is shaped by stories, identity, power, and human psychology. That is why myths like flat-earth and “the Vikings wore horned helmets” persist, even if the receipts say otherwise. In this post, we’ll explore four major reasons why historical distortions stick: storytelling, national identity, power dynamics, and cognitive biases.
Storytelling is Stickier Than Facts:
Humans are wired to remember narratives: simple, dramatic stories are easier to recall than nuanced complex truths. Washington chopping down a cherry tree has prevailed throughout time, despite historians debunking the myth. Narratives beat nuance, especially when they serve collective memory and learning purposes, rather than accuracy.
We have approached a time where it is far more beneficial to promote a click-bait, “rage-bait,” headline or theory than it is to come up with something original. The same can be said for sports, social media users and media outlets are guilty of this. It is to the point where it has started to contribute to the divide in this world, and that is just upsetting.
Nations Need Legends:
Historical narratives are often written or later enhanced to bolster national identity and collective pride. Myths like Romulus and Remus founding Rome or hagiographies of the Founding Fathers persist because they serve unity, not accuracy. When myths reenforce belonging and legitimization, they become difficult to shake. This results in many people having a misunderstanding of history, their country’s past, or historical figures.
Power Shapes the Past:
History is also distorted by those in power. Rulers, governments, and elites have always used history as a tool to justify their authority. Historical negationism, or historical denialism, is the falsification, trivialization, or distortion of the historical record. [1] Manipulating data or documents contributes to the ongoing conspiracy theories that run rampant on the internet. [2] Some scholars like Sherman and Grobman, as well as Lipstadt, offer insights into the differences between historical revisionism and denial. [[3]][[4]] While other historians like Berger claim that a complete denial of past events challenges the fundamental principles of historical scholarship. [5]
Take the medieval chronicles: kings paid scribes to write glowing accounts of their reigns, portraying themselves as divinely chosen while their enemies were vilified. Or look at Nazi Germany, where myths about Aryan racial origins and fabricated histories of “ancient greatness” were weaponized to support conquest and genocide. Propaganda thrives on bending history. By controlling the narrative of the past, rulers try to control the present and the future.
The Psychology of Belief:
Even if historians work hard to correct myths, people often resist letting go. That’s where psychology comes in. Humans suffer from confirmation bias — we seek out stories that fit what we already believe. [6] If a myth reinforces our worldview, we’re more likely to accept it and share it. [7] That’s why conspiracies like the “lost civilization of Atlantis” or “ancient aliens” remain popular despite decades of debunking. [8]
There’s also the backfire effect: when people are presented with evidence that contradicts their beliefs, they sometimes double down instead of changing their minds. In other words, debunking can make myths stronger. [9] Combine this with the internet’s meme culture, where catchy distortions travel faster than careful nuance, and you see how myths adapt and survive in the digital age.
Why This Matters:
At first glance, distorted history might seem harmless — who cares if kids think Vikings wore horned helmets, right? But myths aren’t just trivia. They shape how people understand the world, how nations define themselves, and how leaders justify their actions. When we buy into myths uncritically, we risk letting propaganda, bias, and distortion drive our understanding of the past. And since history informs identity and policy, the consequences are real. That’s why history needs to be handled carefully — with evidence, skepticism, and, yes, receipts.
Conclusion: Asking the Hard Questions
History gets distorted because it isn’t just about facts. It’s about stories, identity, power, and psychology. Myths will always be with us — some harmless, some dangerous. But by asking tough questions, demanding sources, and challenging comfortable legends, we can push closer to the truth.
That’s what Receipts Required is about: separating myth from fact, so we can see history not just as a story, but as reality.
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Thanks for reading! Receipts Required is all about separating myth from history, bringing receipts to every story.
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[1] Sarah Lee, “The Philosophy behind Historical Denialism,” Number Analytics // Super Easy Data analysis tool for Research, accessed August 27, 2025, https://www.numberanalytics.com/blog/philosophy-behind-historical-denialism.
[2] Fabiana Zollo and Walter Quattrociocchi, “Misinformation Spreading on Facebook,” Computational Social Sciences, 2018, 177–96, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77332-2_10, 1-3.
[3] Michael Shermer, Alex Grobman, and Arthur Hertzberg, Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It? (Berkeley (CA): University of California Press, 2002), 34.
[4] Deborah E. Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust the Growing Assault on Truth and Memory (New York: Free Press, 1993), 21.
[5] Ronald J. Berger, Fathoming the Holocaust: A Social Problems Approach (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2002), 154.
[6] By et al., “Confirmation Bias in Psychology: Definition & Examples,” Simply Psychology, June 22, 2023, https://www.simplypsychology.org/confirmation-bias.html.
[7] Confirmation bias: Seeing what we want to believe, accessed August 27, 2025, https://positivepsychology.com/confirmation-bias/.
[8] Elizabeth Kolbert, “Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds,” The New Yorker, February 20, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds.
[9] Research Subject Guides: Fake News/Misinformation/Disinformation: What Is Confirmation Bias?,” What is Confirmation Bias? - Fake News/Misinformation/Disinformation - Research Subject Guides at Northeastern University, accessed August 27, 2025, https://subjectguides.lib.neu.edu/fakenews/bias.
