Blog #102--Columbus Day Perpetuates Disinformation

As another Columbus Day comes and goes, I think it is important to consider aspects of its significance most people overlook. Yes, Columbus sailed West from Europe and found land in what is now called the Caribbean. But he did not discover America, he did not find a trade route to the Far East, and he did far less worth celebrating than most people wish to believe. For instance, he and most of the educated world already knew Earth was round and not flat. In fact, ancient scholars Pythagoras, Aristotle and Ptolemy all laid out the science to confirm that fact.

Of course, try telling these things to the general public; all we might get for our trouble is a tongue-lashing. Explaining this phenomenon is the purpose for this blog. The human ego loves stories, the more fanciful the better. And it will defend its favorite myths to death. After all, most of us hold out hope there are some people in the world capable of rising above the limits of free will to produce great miracles. Singing their praises perpetuates these myths for future generations.

Washington Irving wrote a biography of Christopher Columbus (whose real name was Cristobal Colon) in 1828. With his research sources lacking detail, Irving made up parts of the story while omitting some of the more lurid aspects. Since that time, more and more people have embraced his version of history, culminating with a national designation of Columbus Day in 1937. I and many other people remember being taught in school, “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” And we remember singing a song about his brave little ships the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria.

With these myths ingrained in us through repetition, a large segment of the US population will now fight against anyone daring to discredit them. This is how all big lies operate. We tell a story that has the sound of truth over and over until many people embrace it as historically accurate, when it may really be intentional disinformation or deception. Many of us need to believe in heroes and miracles. We also need to believe our leaders are truthful and care as much about our survival needs as their selfish wants. Our fear of losing these notions makes us adamant in their defense.

By many historical accounts, Columbus was not a kind man out to prove a scientific tenet. His goal was to make money for his royal benefactors and himself, and he could be brutal toward those who interfered. When he accidently found land, he enslaved or killed large numbers of the native populations. On subsequent trips, he brought back African slaves to work gold mines on what is now the island containing Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and others. He didn’t find much gold, but slaves were profitable for his investors. Thus, his real claim to fame was to begin the transatlantic slave trade.

Other people had found these lands before Columbus; the native populations proved it, as have the discovery of the remains of ancient explorations. He helped Europeans learn more about navigating the Atlantic ocean, but explorers from several areas of the world in addition to Europe had found land which are parts of North, Central and South America. Ironically, the land Columbus claimed was the Far East was actually farther away from it than Spain, the country from which he first set sail. This was due to his imperfect mathematics, which vastly underestimated the circumference of the Earth.

Many people in the United States still revere Columbus. At least 17 states have cities named Columbus, and several more include it in their names. Once someone is considered a hero, he or she is automatically assumed to be a perfected being by our egos. Thanks to Washington Irvine plus our governments and schools, we will not soon let go of our preferred beliefs about a man who in real life was far less a hero than we wish him to be. He was a normal human being, filled with contradictions and limited by selfishness. We don’t like hearing that, but closing our minds doesn’t transform a lie into a truth.

As I state in my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life,” none of us is perfect by our ego’s definition of the word. It is our imperfection that makes us perfect; we are serving the purpose for which we were born. This is actually great news, but accepting it is extremely hard for many people. Articles like this one and books like mine will continue to be discredited by those fearful of discovering the truth about themselves and our world. But that doesn’t make them wrong.

Fewer people celebrate Columbus Day now than ever before. Fewer people are allowed a day off from work either, although those who do get a vacation day have few gripes. But it may still be a long time before Columbus Day is finally put out of its misery, perhaps replaced by a memorial for all the natives destroyed by explorers like Columbus. There are a number of other holidays and mythological stories that are best left to the dust bins of history as well, if only we would realize the benefits of celebrating truth rather than made-up stories that have minimal basis in fact.

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