The Decay of Knowledge

submitted by RupertTaylor493 from owlcation.com

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[–]UncleWillard56 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Is it a half-life or just the stepping stone to better understanding. In all examples, more research improved our knowledge and we just jettisoned the old, inaccurate conclusions. That's science in a nutshell and why rational people gravitate to it; it can be updated with new information unlike religion or politics, etc.

In today's post-fact age, though, some of this knowledge is being displaced due to the current narrative. Biological sex, for example, is practically worthy of burning at the stake, if brought up in the wrong company. And there's also a narrative that says things like science, math, history, the English language - all are being thrown out simply because of the race of the people who developed them. Even years ago, in a college English Lit class, a black kid argued that any word definition was inherently flawed because white people wrote the dictionary. That was laughable then, but it's de rigueur now.

How long before we start losing knowledge due to presentism?

[–]RupertTaylor493[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Excellent points Uncle Willard. I think I'm going to have to rework the title. Knowledge doesn't decay, except in those who hew to certain ideologies, it changes and improves.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful comments.