Generational amnesia: The memory loss that harms the planet

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 this thought a number of times over the years. It’s always felt more to me like a generational dementia though, which in turn, feels 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’s damaging, unfair, cruel and wasteful. But that’s how this generational loss feels as well.