Implications Of Data Loss

That truth degrades over time. Alas this is true. Could the failings of human memory as we age reflect a fundamental truth of the universe? Yes, in a way. Memory is finite so to gain more information as we age would naturally degrade or push out older information. We could choose not to gain any new information, but existing storage systems could at best preserve what is currently there, never improve on accuracy. Even these old memories would by change degrade over time due to occasional damage or the rigours of life, but even a perfect, age proof memory (perhaps something etched on stone in the void of space, immune by magic from micrometeorite damage) could not improve on accuracy, only keep what is there. A memory that expands in size would improve things too, but memory could not expand forever because to store all of the knowledge in the universe would demand a memory as large as the universe.

Do all truths degrade though? Surely eternal truths could last forever? Let's go back to Descartes again. Anything he wrote may be remembered forever, or at least a long time, assuming his text can still be interpreted as accurately as when it was written, this becomes more difficult as time passes. His knowledge of the early 17th century however was far more accurate than any of ours, just as our knowledge of the early 21st century is far superior to any future generation. Like the great memory, accuracy can be preserved or lost, never improved. The weight of time will tend to degrade accuracy in those circumstances.

That an intelligent man knows less than an idiot with more social connections. I hereby excuse the harsh judgement of idiocy. Alas though this is true. Of course for "social connections" any access to information is implied too. A book is something that might degrade more slowly over time than living memory; the pages will rot, databanks will age and be lost or damaged, the language will change, but that still counts as a store of social knowledge. The greater ones connections to knowledge the more accurate it will be. How the information is processed is not relevant. When it comes to accuracy of knowledge the quality of a person's memory is more important than their intelligence. However, the ability to make connections between data is also important because several true bits of information might help identify a falsehood and that sense of intelligence will be useful.

Mark Sheeky, 14 January 2013