Nerf gun enthusiast? I don't think so.

In a consumer driven world such as ours, it seems to me that people are no longer judged by their personalities, but rather by their belongings. We know that someone is successful based off the fact that they have the new iPhone, or a brand new sports car, rather than actually talking to them and learning about them. And it got me thinking, if I were to disappear tomorrow, would my belongings be an accurate reflection of who I am?

Looking around my room, I see a few things that stand out to me. A pile of sheet music, scattered across the floor, a Nerf gun, a cell phone, and a backpack stuffed with school supplies. But if someone were to glance at these items, would they be able to truly understand me? Is it possible for someone to look at one's belongings, and instantly know everything about them? No. This idea ties into what we were learning this week in American Studies, and the problem that historians are faced with every day. Anyone could glance around my room and easily draw the conclusion that I am a Nerf gun enthusiast, with a passion for writing songs, but they would be dead wrong.  It is almost impossible to know everything about a person based on artifacts that they left behind, therefore it is so important to continue to collaborate and corroborate with others to make sure that you are getting correct information. For example, if one were to look around Tiger Wood's house, they would probably guess that he was a fantastic golfer, based on hundreds of golf clubs and trophies. But without further research, they would have no way of knowing about his many affairs and scandals, therefore their information about him would be inaccurate.

 There is no way one could know everything about me by simply looking around my room. There is not one object that sums up my entire life. In my opinion, one must rely on more than just their belongings in order to truly get to know a person.