# Technology Vs. Collective memory **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 7, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-vs-collective-memory/516702 "2009-11-07T07:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![frootle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a87d85/32.png) [@frootle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frootle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-vs-collective-memory/516702/1 "2009-11-07T07:21:57Z")
What happens to the concept of collective memory [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective\_memory](http://site.com) when confronted with the 'net? Twitter, Facebook, photobucket et al. have an immediate and direct impact which would never entered the picture a few, or 700 hundred years ago. Does this accessability to a huge range of information actually boost the collective memory?, or does it make it obsolete due to the fact that the memory doesn’t need to be ‘catalogued’ anymore, as you can just ‘look it up’?? (sorry about the wiki link… I’m getting lazy 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-vs-collective-memory/516702/2 "2009-11-07T09:45:45Z")
> **[Collective memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_memory)** > > Collective memory refers to the shared pool of memories, knowledge and information of a social group that is significantly associated with the group's identity. The English phrase "collective memory" and the equivalent French phrase "la mémoire collective" appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century. The philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs analyzed and advanced the concept of the collective memory in the book Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire (1925). Collective memo Collectiv... From what I’ve seen, the colletive memory dramatically improves people’s productivity and quality of life. Twenty years ago if you had a problem, you had a problem and you were pretty much on your own. Now you spend a few hours on google and you can find tons of info about other people who have had it, and what they did. No matter what your problem chances are there is a message board full of people who have great advice based on research and personal experience. So I think the net just makes collective memory more accessible the same way jets and cars make different geographic regions of earth more accessible. The collective memory was always there, but before the internet we couldn’t access it the same way China was always there but before airplanes we couldn’t get there very well. I think the benefits of easy access to collective memory have been powerful, but in a lot of ways fairly subtle. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-vs-collective-memory/516702/3 "2009-11-07T09:46:42Z")
Just imagine when wireless broadband is just a bit more ubiquitous than it is today and we’re able to have cyborg wireless antennas implanted into our brains. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-vs-collective-memory/516702/4 "2009-11-07T10:01:59Z")
I think there’s a very strong case for the internet being the embodiment of the phrase “The plural of anecdote is, indeed, data”. Or, as has already been said, the 'net will augment collective memory, not replace it, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-vs-collective-memory/516702/5 "2009-11-07T16:26:38Z")
I think **Wesley Clark** said it pretty well. I have spent some time on internet message boards talking to a lot of people, and it’s quite interesting to see the increase in sophistication of discussions on message boards over time due to the constant access and the resistance of people who know more about something than other people hammering it home day in and day out.