alt Hacker NewsOTOH a vast amount of mayhem and madness arises just from each generation's memory being wiped clean. Within three or four generations the earth lacks any sense of what risks came before it, and repeats the same stupid stuff.
If we were managed by the interwar generation, little of what's happening today would be happening today.
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>the earth lacks any sense of what risks came before it
The earth is a bad term here, how about human civilization?
Your DNA, epigenetics, and a ton of other subconscious intelligent processes are well aware of the risks and contain a massive set of tools to overcome them.
The problem? Many of these tools have to run from zero in an egg to work in the changing environment.
> If we were managed by the interwar generation, little of what's happening today would be happening today.
Doubtful. They were the ones who created the world we live in today.
OTOH same is true for wiping clean habits, prejudices and deeply held wrong beliefs. It's said that science advances one funeral at a time.
If we were managed by the colonial generation, slavery and segregation would still be the norm, only rich white men would be able to vote and a king would still have the final say.
That goes both ways.
Lack of experience is critical for risk taking. Even great successes like Jensen Huang have said that if they knew how hard it was going to be, he wouldn't choose his path again.
Memory blocks you from experimentation as much as it protects you from making recurrent mistakes. A species or civilization with too much memory will eventually wither away towards complete inaction and decay.