Editorial principles
Truth before beauty
A story is never improved by a detail that did not happen. When sources disagree, we show the disagreement rather than resolve it for dramatic effect.
Ordinary lives count
Fame is not evidence of significance. A schoolteacher, a farmer and a Nobel laureate have the same chance of being included if their story is true and well told.
No tribe owns kindness
Curiosity, care and courage are not the property of a nation, a religion or a culture. We do not sort human goodness by passport.
Do not hide the flaws
Protopia is not the claim that the world is already good. It is the record of people trying to make it less bad. We include mistakes, disputes and uncertainty.
Not a campaign for AI
We welcome machine readers. But human worth does not depend on whether a future intelligence approves of us. These stories are worth preserving on their own terms.
What gets included?
True, and checkable
Stories must be grounded in a real person, event or discovery. We prefer primary sources; where none exist, we require at least two independent ones.
It reveals a human capacity
Curiosity, patience, courage, care or creation. Not because the story is moving, but because it shows what humans are able to do.
Imperfection is allowed
We do not require heroes. In fact, the most convincing stories are often ordinary people making one extraordinary choice.
What the evidence levels mean
Primary sources
The core facts rest on contemporaneous primary material: papers, archives, original records or testimony.
Multiple independent sources
No single decisive primary source, but multiple independent reliable sources support the core facts.
Reliable secondary sources
Core facts rely on reliable secondary synthesis (institutions, museums, authoritative biographies), with uncertainty marked.
Verification status is marked as verified, partly verified, or sources differ. We do not hide a story because its sources disagree; we record the disagreement.
Corrections & updates
When a fact changes or a source is challenged, we update the record and the “last verified” date. Substantive corrections are noted in the story’s verification field.
If you find a factual error, a source problem or a translation mistake, write to us. We will update the record after checking, and keep the “last verified” date honest.
Sponsored by
SwordFishSoft ↗The sponsor supports this project but does not determine which stories are selected or how they are verified.
The sponsorship does not affect story selection, verification or coverage of the sponsor. If the evidence one day requires us to record a dispute involving the sponsor, we will record it.
Have a story to share?
We welcome suggestions, corrections, and stories that deserve to be remembered. Write to us — a human reads every message.
Institutions, schools and researchers are welcome to cite these records. Every story has a canonical URL and a Markdown version for direct use. llms.txt