The Problem
History is usually taught as a single narrative. Textbooks present events as settled fact, smoothing over the interpretations, contested claims, and ideological assumptions that shape every account.
This isn't malicious — it's practical. You can't teach the Napoleonic Wars while simultaneously deconstructing every source. But the result is that students learn conclusions without learning how to think historically.
When people later encounter conflicting narratives — in politics, in media, in conversation — they lack the tools to evaluate them. They either pick a side or throw up their hands.
Our Approach
Layered History separates historical information into distinct epistemological layers:
- Layer 0: Bare physical facts (what happened, when, where)
- Layers 1–4: Interpretations of increasing abstraction (actions, motives, causes, framings)
- Layers 5–7: Context and worldview (era texture, structural forces, ideology)
By making these layers visible, we help people see where fact ends and interpretation begins. Not to dismiss interpretation — interpretation is essential — but to make it legible.
"The goal isn't to remove bias from history. It's to make bias visible."
What This Isn't
Layered History is not a fact-checker. We don't tell you what's true. We show you what different sources claim and where those claims sit in the epistemological stack.
We're also not neutral in the sense of having no values. We believe:
- Clarity is better than confusion
- Multiple perspectives are better than one
- Understanding how knowledge is constructed is itself valuable
But we don't tell you which interpretation is correct. That's your job.
Open Framework, Sustainable Product
The Layered History framework — the 8-layer model, the methodology, the reference implementation — is open and free under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
This means:
- Schools, universities, and museums can use it free with attribution
- Researchers can build on it and adapt it
- Commercial use requires a license
The product — the AI-powered research, the hosted platform, the curated event library — is how we sustain the work. Free for 10 queries, then subscription or institutional license.