It's the most famous of the SF genre of the multigenerational colony
starship where the people onboard forget their original purpose and
even the fact that they are on a giant vessel travelling among the
stars.
In Orphans of the Sky, the Crew as they are called still do have some
of the original science and technical books taken on the voyage, but
they interpret such things as a discussion of gravity as the ancients'
romantic way of describing love (the attraction of two bodies to each
other, get it?).
I remember a recent New Yorker article about a tribe in the Amazon
who were the less sophisticated descendants of a more advanced
civilization whose buildings are now covered in jungle growth. Their
descendants believed that gods had actually built those structures,
having long forgotten their true origins.
It only takes a few generations to wipe out centuries of civilization.
Thus the need and call for preserving knowledge in many places, less
we have another Library of Alexandria.
Off Topic » in reply to I agree
Ever read Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky
The whole thread (42 posts)
- "Earth Abides" Most of humanity is gone. Can tech survive?
- re: "Earth Abides" Most of humanity is gone. Can tech survive?
- Technology = Fragility
- From Jetsons to Flintstones
- Extra credit