The Sentinel-Intelligence

The Sentinel-Intelligence

Share this post

The Sentinel-Intelligence
The Sentinel-Intelligence
As a Society, We Keep "Forgetting" The Most Important Lessons. It's Intentional.
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

As a Society, We Keep "Forgetting" The Most Important Lessons. It's Intentional.

We're the memory rebels.

Jessica's avatar
Jessica
Nov 11, 2024
∙ Paid
63

Share this post

The Sentinel-Intelligence
The Sentinel-Intelligence
As a Society, We Keep "Forgetting" The Most Important Lessons. It's Intentional.
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
5
7
Share
Unsplash

Today, I’m thinking about that little pen from Men in Black. If you saw something you weren’t supposed to, you got flashed. Then Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones would give you a much safer, believable story to explain any remaining strangeness. It was funny until it wasn’t. There’s no memory zapper, but there’s something almost as good. It’s called collective amnesia. Or social amnesia. Or social forgetting. It has a lot of different names, but it’s the same thing.

It’s the will to forget.

As we speak, corporations are obliterating entire archives from the internet. States are banning history textbooks. Politicians and media outlets are actively reshaping our memories of recent events. The public seems happy to play along. For many of us, it’s downright infuriating to watch politicians and talking heads lead the public through the same cycle of mistakes, over and over again. Lately, it feels like the vast majority of everyone we know never learns a lesson. In fact, it often feels like they don’t want to learn. When they do, they wish they hadn’t.

Well, it’s not just in your head.

It’s a thing.

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Jessica Wildfire
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More