4 ms·
Most of the documents may never be read, but the only way to preserve the valuable documents is to preserve all the documents, lest you lose the valuable ones d
by bigbubba 6y ago
Most of the documents may never be read, but the only way to preserve the valuable documents is to preserve all the documents, lest you lose the valuable ones during your hasty initial evaluation of document worth.
Furthermore the worth of some documents may only become apparent in contexts that are not presently known or considered. Sometimes the worth of a document only becomes apparent many years later.
- nickff 6y agoI am an avid reader of history, but I don't find the detailed facts especially valuable. Can you come up with some examples of what real value (aside from entertainment/ammunition) these sorts of documents have? Having read about a number of previous presidents, I cannot think of any specific example made a difference; you might argue that the 'weight of evidence' makes a difference, but I'd be skeptical of that too.
- bigbubba 6y agoAn uncontentious example: Documents created by the Third Reich helped prosecute war criminals.
- nickff 6y agoI don't think the Trump administration is going around destroying census data and prison records. I'm also highly skeptical of the idea that any of the Nuremberg defendants would have gone free without 'private office' documents. As an example, Karl Doenitz was convicted on (somewhat dubious) charges that had nothing to do with Concentration Camps or PoW treatment.
- bigbubba 6y agoCorrespondance between officials can be relevant when determining which officials knew what, and when. This is obvious common sense stuff; it shouldn't require explaination and your resistance to it smells like motivated reasoning.
- nickff 6y agoWhat would be my motivation? Do you think I'm involved in a 'vast right-wing conspiracy'?