Generational Amnesia

In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, the concept of generational amnesia is gaining renewed attention. Generational amnesia refers to the phenomenon where each generation retains only a fraction of the knowledge and experiences of prior generations. This can lead to a loss of important historical insights, potentially causing us to repeat the mistakes of the past. As our society continues to advance, especially with the rise of generative AI, this issue becomes increasingly pertinent.

I highly recommend this recent Forbes article, which does a fantastic job of describing this phenomenon. I have often discussed the repeating cycles of history, and generational amnesia is a major contributor to these repetitive cycles. Author Lance Elliot in the referenced article asked ChatGPT to define generational amnesia. The response:

“ Generational amnesia refers to the phenomenon where each generation tends to forget or become unaware of the previous generations’ conditions, social norms, or cultural practices. This concept is often discussed in the context of environmental degradation and climate change, where the baseline for what is considered ‘normal’ shifts with each generation, leading to a diminished awareness of gradual changes over time. Overall, generational amnesia implies that each successive generation has gaps in their understanding and must relearn or rediscover certain knowledge, skills, or practices that were known to previous generations.”

The core of generational amnesia lies in the finite nature of human life and memory. Each generation attempts to pass down knowledge to the next, but this process is inherently imperfect. We can leave behind written records, artifacts, and other physical manifestations, but the complete store of knowledge in our brains cannot be fully transmitted. This results in a progressive loss of information over time. Parents try their best to impart their wisdom to their children, but what is actually conveyed is only a small fraction of their total knowledge.

This issue is further compounded by the way society remembers and records history. Recorded history, while valuable, is itself a fragmented and incomplete version of past events. It can be lost, misplaced, or difficult to access. For example, many ancient cave etchings and even some paper-based books have been lost to the ages. This creates a scenario where each new generation forms its understanding of the world based on incomplete information, leading to a constantly shifting baseline of knowledge and experience.

Generational amnesia is not just a theoretical concept; it has real-world implications. For instance, in the realm of public health, generational amnesia can lead to complacency about vaccines. A generation that has not experienced the ravages of a particular disease may undervalue the importance of vaccination, potentially setting the stage for a resurgence of the disease. Similarly, environmental generational amnesia can lead to a diminished understanding of environmental degradation over time, reducing the urgency to address ecological issues.

Generative AI, a modern technological marvel, offers a potential solution to this problem. Generative AI, powered by large language models (LLMs), has the capability to encapsulate vast amounts of information and present it in a coherent manner. These AI systems are trained on extensive datasets, often sourced from the internet, to mimic human language and generate responses based on patterns identified during training. By leveraging generative AI, we could create a robust mechanism for preserving and transmitting knowledge across generations, potentially overcoming the limitations of human memory and recorded history.

Ultimately, addressing generational amnesia involves a combination of preserving knowledge through advanced technology and fostering an appreciation for historical context in each new generation. Confucius’s advice to “study the past, if you would divine the future” is a poignant reminder of the importance of historical awareness. By using generative AI and other technologies to capture and transmit knowledge, we can help ensure that the lessons of the past are not lost, but instead inform and guide future generations.

Originally published at http://frankdiana.net on July 25, 2024.