Can we really pass on knowledge? The evidence says no!

It seems that each generation has to relearn most of what its parents know. As is well recognized, each new generation thinks of the one before as rather to be pitied for their lack of knowledge. So each generation has to learn for itself. Furthermore, the learning is no faster than for the previous generation. As has been written before, we none of us know what we do not know. The really smart thing is to assume that there is more we do not know than we do, and approach each situation with a spirit of discovery. Unfortunately, so many people approach each situation as though they already know everything they need to.

As a result, this very much slows down learning, because, at best, we have to make mistakes to learn.