|
|
|
|
|
|
by Rynant
3417 days ago
|
|
|
Looking at 200 years as 20 generations ignores the fact that grandparents can speak directly to their grandchildren, or that people have children past 20 years of age. President John Tyler was in his mid 20s during the Battle of Waterloo, and his grandchildren are still alive - so only 2 generations removed from someone contemporary to that event. |
|
|
So, there's a great video on Youtube by a law professor entitled "Don't talk to cops", about the 5th amendment[1]. At the start of the talk, he tells the class to listen to a statement, and that there will be a simple test in a little while. Halfway through the talk, he asks a multi-choice question about the statement, and the class flubs it. He points out that they were in the comfortable, relaxed atmosphere of the classroom and were warned about it beforehand. If people mangle that kind of situation in only 20 minutes, what hope does a grandpappy-chain have?
Or a more real-world example: Australia's isolationist party (think UKIP, Trump) has about 8% of the vote and is led by Pauline Hanson. Hanson has waxed lyrical in the past about the golden years of Australia in her youth... which has been fact-checked, and the things she thinks were in early-70s Australia didn't happen until years later. She genuinely believes that all those years ago, society zigged when it actually zagged. This is in only one person's lifetime, sourcing her own experiences.
In short, no, a grandpappy-chain crossing 200 years is not sufficient for detail, especially when you're basing a moral code on the events and the semantics of the words matter. "My grandfather's grandfather fought at Waterloo and was a gunner" may survive, but "these are the political events leading up to Waterloo and the nuances they lend" isn't, nor is personal opinion or experience. How many of us have heard any detailed stories of our grandfather's grandfather's grandfather, let alone enough to write an epistle about it?
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik - it's an entertaining talk, and goes through a lot of the problems with memory and opinion. There's a second part as well, from a seasoned cop talking about his side of the equation.