Unit Ten: What is Real and Not Real in the Digital and Real Worlds

When I was three I recited the Pledge of Allegiance for my great uncle.  He apparently thought it was just one of the cutest, most brilliant, most patriotic things he’d ever see because from then on I was showered with “American” themed gifts.  I received American flags, commemorative coin sets, first issue stamps and (my personal favorite) a copy of the Declaration of Independence.  It was one of the ones made to look “real”.  For the longest time I thought it was, and thought how special it was that I got to have my very own copy.  

Eventually I learned it was simply a reproduction, but I remembered how I felt holding it, believing it was real, imagining what life was like when it was first written. Years later, when I began teaching U.S. History, I picked up similar copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Gettysburg address, along with reproductions of maps and money for use in my class.  Every time I bring them out my students ask me if they are “real”. I always explain to them the documents they are holding aren’t original, but they are real.  The words were written, those men signed their names to it, and real people lived it.

I can’t bring the original Declaration of Independence to my students, but I can still bring them the real story, meaning, message behind it. Of course there is something to be said for being able to hold a piece of history in your hands - to hold it, smell it, feel its weight - but the truth is most of us will never have that opportunity.  That is why the advances in digital history are so amazing.  Students, scholars, researchers and historians who would never have had the opportunity to travel the world to archeological sites and museums, to hold a copy of the Declaration of Independence or a vase from the Ming Dynasty, can still (admittedly to a lesser degree) experience, study and wonder at these treasures.

Of course it’s not the same thing as witnessing or holding an original, but they are still real experiences with real things.  Every time I travel and read on my Kindle, someone mentions to me how much they love the feel of a “real” book in their hands too much and could never read on a e-reader or tablet.  I love picking up an old, favorite book to read - the smell of the pages, the crinkle of the book jacket, the feel of it in my hands - there is nothing like it…but my love for reading is greater than my love for holding a book.  There are countless stories, lessons, tears, and laughs I would miss if I limited my reading to only books I could physically hold!  I’ll take a slightly “lesser” experience over no experience any day.