I have drafted several factors for further development that should shape the methodology for studying contemporary history. Ranging from fairly obvious to potentially controversial.
- Source base deficit as a fundamental characteristic of the research situation.
- Massive and non-stop source manipulation by competing groups, which cannot be compared even to mass consciousness manipulation in the era of totalitarian regimes; the impossibility of fully assessing the scale of manipulations.
- The possibility of physical elimination of sources potentially dangerous for maintaining power (individuals, groups of individuals, media outlets, specific media messages).
- The presence of conspiratorial media myth noise, creating an intrusive and often unbearable background for objective historical research.
- The concept of “conspiracy theories” as one of the intellectual myths of the modern world (the neutral content of the concept acquires negative coloring, and any conjectures about true mechanisms are marked with a negative term for their marginalization).
- The assumption of the possibility of collusion among world elite representatives through closed and previously impossible communication channels.
- The assumption of deep and conscious collaborationism of trend-setting and agenda-defining intellectual historians and media with ruling groups.
- Given the previous assumption, the possibility of intentional distortion of the informational picture of the recent past and current events.
- The reduction of chance factors in the historical process through the elevation of control over large masses of people and the capabilities of media manipulation.
- The assumption of constructing research through building hypothetical scenarios and explanations.