Historical consciousness in the computer age

pp. 75-83

in: J. C. Nyíri, Tradition and individuality, Berlin, Springer, 1992

Abstract

That there exists no healthy society that is without some sort of historical memory is an assumption predominating both in the popular mind and also among social theorists. Another formulation of this assumption might read: it is part of the normal present of a society to have a consciousness of its past; in the absence of common memories a society as it were falls apart, for there no longer obtains the necessary solidarity among its members.¹