As each new generation inherits the world, vital knowledge is forgotten. Richard Fisher explores the language that has emerged to describe that phenomenon.

Read at BBC Future

I’ve had a similar thought a number of times over the years, but it feels more to me like generational dementia, which I’m conscious may seem like a horrible simile to make.

I don’t mean it flippantly though. Having seen family members suffer with dementia, I know how hideous it is. It feels wasteful, unfair and cruel.

When talking to a relative with dementia you learn that you cannot (and should not) tell them when they are repeating themselves or when they have forgotten something. Nothing you say or remind them of will cure their inability to recall, because the memory is just not accessible. And trying to force them to remember only causes distress.

It feels as if similar behaviours occur in the way that each generation seems to ‘forget’ what’s already happened. We need to find better ways not to cause distress in our younger generations, when trying to remind/teach them to recall collective memories/history.