What do we mean by thinking historically? We may have heard the term but been puzzled by it.

We are all familiar with historical histories, popular histories, movies, documentaries, the stories
of our grandparents and neighbors. To think historically means we read, analyze and write what
are necessary to tell these stories. It is not only what we know about the past, it is how we know
it. Because the past is hard to retrieve, we can't travel back in time to see what happened, for
example, during the Martial Law under the Marcos Regime. However, thinking historically
enables us to draw near to the past, allowing us to recall and recreate a more accurate image of
what occurred and what it signified. Many people think that history is just a single account but in
fact we must use multiple sources to get an accurate picture as possible of events in the past.

Sam Wineburg examined the argument that historical thinking isn't about history in his article
"Why Historical Thinking Is Not about History." According to him, various generations gathered
knowledge in multiple ways and trusted them in different ways. From the previous generations,
he explained that when they needed to do research, they went to the library and grabbed a book,
knowing that the information contained in it was reliable since it had gone through so many
cycles of criticisms from publishers, authors or writers before being made public. Young people
of today, gather all of their information via internet that you will wonder how they judge if a
source is reputable or not. According to the findings from the study conducted by Ezter Hargittai
and her colleagues at Northwestern University, many students assume that the first few links that
appear when searching for a question on Google are the most reputable sources to consult. It is
disturbing to think that these young people are coming up with notions about historical events
without scrutinizing the sources they read with these kinds of ideas.

In this digital age, where does the line between credible information and shameless bluff lies?
Indeed, Sam Wineburg’s claim that “Historical Thinking is not about History” is true in a sense.
It is about how we scrutinize the information that we know. We don’t just easily believe, we
question and fact-check it. We must think critically. Verifying information means to evaluate the
sources which is available and to find out its relevance. Remember that history is the mother of
all disciplines that’s why credibility is essential.