Related: Obsidian MOC]
history repeats itself because knowledge is not a positivistic model
We wonder why history repeats itself. Horrific events unfolding in the past bring about new understandings, only for us to make the same mistakes generations later, seemingly never learning a lesson. Just because we have accumulated previous knowledge, does not mean it results in cumulative knowledge (positivistic model).
What we consider knowledge is determined by a group of people, who in a particular region or time period have determined that certain information is relevant and important than others. This isn’t concrete, because the groups of people change, and the bubble they consider knowledge is permeable. Not only can it be influenced by new knowledge, old knowledge can “leak out.”
Why does this seem to occur though? I think it’s because we must experience these episodes ourselves in order to properly gain knowledge. According to Larry McEnerney, readers will read something if it brings value to them. Gaining knowledge through lived experiences means that this knowledge is more valuable to us, and we’re more likely to hold on to it. However, as old generations die and new generations enter the world, that experiential knowledge leaks away and a new group is formed.
What was considered valuable knowledge has changed, because the people have changed.