Pinky found a fifty-year-old map in her grandmother's cupboard
Pinky found a fifty-year-old map in her grandmother's cupboard. She says it is useless now because it is old. Her friend says even an old thing can tell you something. Who is right?
Who do you think is right? Pick one.
The answer: The friend is right
Why
Pinky has half a point — for FINDING your way today, a fifty-year-old map is useless; roads have changed. But 'useless for one job' isn't 'useless for everything'. An old map answers a different question: not where things are NOW, but where they WERE. It shows which roads existed then, what the village was called, how much has been built since — things no new map can tell you. Historians read old things exactly this way. Picture an old family photo: no use as a mirror for how you look today, but priceless for seeing who was there and how life once was. The friend is right: an old source is weak for the present yet valuable for the past — its worth depends on what you're asking it.
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