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  3. Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, how much history can you recall from memory to re-teach to the next generation?

Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, how much history can you recall from memory to re-teach to the next generation?

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  • D [email protected]

    Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, you and some survivors escape to a remote area outside of government control, they all can't remember much from history (either didn't pay attwntion in class, or suffers memory loss from the governemtn attacks) and so you are designated as this community's official historian. How much can you remember? What's gonna be the official narrative of your little rebel community?

    B This user is from outside of this forum
    B This user is from outside of this forum
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    wrote last edited by
    #41

    I literally have multiple copies of Wikipedia offline. Including one on a USB stick.

    I don't think it would ever be possible to delete all records of history short of blowing up the entire planet at which point its quite moot.

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    • A [email protected]

      It’s not necessarily a real historical event, but an incredibly important story about liberation of the oppressed that influenced countless real historical movements.

      Herodotus’ histories is mostly fictional but you wouldn’t want to forget it. Same with the Iliad/Odyssey, Epic of Gilgamesh, etc

      T This user is from outside of this forum
      T This user is from outside of this forum
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      wrote last edited by
      #42

      Fair, but the context that they are not real historical events is critical.

      A 1 Reply Last reply
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      • D [email protected]

        Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, you and some survivors escape to a remote area outside of government control, they all can't remember much from history (either didn't pay attwntion in class, or suffers memory loss from the governemtn attacks) and so you are designated as this community's official historian. How much can you remember? What's gonna be the official narrative of your little rebel community?

        B This user is from outside of this forum
        B This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #43

        This is why books are so important. Real, physical, paper books. The scenario you are proposing is precisely what Fahrenheit 451 is about.

        D C A 3 Replies Last reply
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        • B [email protected]

          This is why books are so important. Real, physical, paper books. The scenario you are proposing is precisely what Fahrenheit 451 is about.

          D This user is from outside of this forum
          D This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #44

          How do I print the 100GB English Wikipedia?

          How do I even transport something that big without the authoritarian governmwnt noticing?

          somethingburger@jlai.luS mudman@fedia.ioM 2 Replies Last reply
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          • mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM [email protected]

            I have a stack of Encyclopedia Britannica in my parents storage.

            hupf@feddit.orgH This user is from outside of this forum
            hupf@feddit.orgH This user is from outside of this forum
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            wrote last edited by
            #45

            I have a stack of the Animorphs in my attic. Yours is just speculative fiction.

            mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM 1 Reply Last reply
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            • B [email protected]

              This is why books are so important. Real, physical, paper books. The scenario you are proposing is precisely what Fahrenheit 451 is about.

              C This user is from outside of this forum
              C This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote last edited by
              #46

              the catch is that the Fahrenheit 451 scenario nowadays just require a storage device to fail... very ecological, Greta must approve it

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              • hupf@feddit.orgH [email protected]

                I have a stack of the Animorphs in my attic. Yours is just speculative fiction.

                mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
                mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #47

                .......huh?

                hupf@feddit.orgH 1 Reply Last reply
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                • F [email protected]

                  All records of history have been deleted.

                  mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
                  mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by [email protected]
                  #48

                  Like others, I question the ability to delete a book. And while a regime would be able to change digital literature easily, and educational literature like school books being a close second; changing a book in someone's storage unit is a lot harder.

                  It also handwaves away the other ways we keep history as well. Would people's family photo albums be deleted? What about a great grandma's diary? In some rural areas the family bible has some insanely well kept family records.

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                  • 5 [email protected]

                    While I understand it doesn't quite fit the scenario, it does strike me as a good way to preserve "lost information" in a similar situation. Pair that with a solar charger (or even improvise something like a pedal charger), and you're pretty set for a lot of basic information people would struggle to reconstruct.

                    A This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote last edited by
                    #49

                    Some ebook readers have a microsd card slot, so you could fit an offline copy of Wikipedia on a device with half a year of battery life (in airplane mode)

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                    • D [email protected]

                      How do I print the 100GB English Wikipedia?

                      How do I even transport something that big without the authoritarian governmwnt noticing?

                      somethingburger@jlai.luS This user is from outside of this forum
                      somethingburger@jlai.luS This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #50

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • D [email protected]

                        Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, you and some survivors escape to a remote area outside of government control, they all can't remember much from history (either didn't pay attwntion in class, or suffers memory loss from the governemtn attacks) and so you are designated as this community's official historian. How much can you remember? What's gonna be the official narrative of your little rebel community?

                        M This user is from outside of this forum
                        M This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #51

                        There were Romans (basically Greek cosplayers), some dude with elephants who may or may not have been a cannibal. Then some dude got nailed to some lumber for trying to tell people to chill and love eachother. A few thousand years of fighting about that. Columbo sailed to India but found Aztecs instead. The cubs finally won... And that about brings us up to date.

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • M [email protected]

                          "Look kid, all you need to know is that up until 2016 the world was simpler, but then they killed a gorilla which lead to the rise of fascism in 2025"

                          M This user is from outside of this forum
                          M This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #52

                          RIP Hambe. He was the best of us.

                          T 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • P [email protected]

                            There were troll dolls too.

                            M This user is from outside of this forum
                            M This user is from outside of this forum
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                            wrote last edited by
                            #53

                            And garbage pail kids

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • M [email protected]

                              RIP Hambe. He was the best of us.

                              T This user is from outside of this forum
                              T This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #54

                              Dance off for hambe

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                              • D [email protected]

                                Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, you and some survivors escape to a remote area outside of government control, they all can't remember much from history (either didn't pay attwntion in class, or suffers memory loss from the governemtn attacks) and so you are designated as this community's official historian. How much can you remember? What's gonna be the official narrative of your little rebel community?

                                tudsamfa@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                                tudsamfa@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #55

                                I could probably recite Bill Wurtz's "History of the entire world i guess". And go into some more detail if someone asked.

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                                • mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM [email protected]

                                  .......huh?

                                  hupf@feddit.orgH This user is from outside of this forum
                                  hupf@feddit.orgH This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #56

                                  How would you prove that your books reflect the true history?

                                  mydarkesttimeline01@ani.socialM 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • D [email protected]

                                    How do I print the 100GB English Wikipedia?

                                    How do I even transport something that big without the authoritarian governmwnt noticing?

                                    mudman@fedia.ioM This user is from outside of this forum
                                    mudman@fedia.ioM This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                    #57

                                    "Print"?

                                    I mean, you're in a fascist global dystopia and you're gonna get picky about formats? I can carry a copy of Wikipedia in a SD card the size of my pinky nail, and I know because I have one. Who are these hipster kids that look at my Wonder Phone of Truth and go "well, this would be a lot easier on my eyeballs if you got me a paperback edition".

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                                    • B [email protected]

                                      This is why books are so important. Real, physical, paper books. The scenario you are proposing is precisely what Fahrenheit 451 is about.

                                      A This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                      #58

                                      Funnily enough RB, the author of F451, insists that everyone else is wrong, and that book is actually about falling literacy rates due to television viewership.

                                      B 1 Reply Last reply
                                      2
                                      • D [email protected]

                                        Hypothetically, if governments wordwide just suddenly became authoritarian and deleted all records of history, you and some survivors escape to a remote area outside of government control, they all can't remember much from history (either didn't pay attwntion in class, or suffers memory loss from the governemtn attacks) and so you are designated as this community's official historian. How much can you remember? What's gonna be the official narrative of your little rebel community?

                                        C This user is from outside of this forum
                                        C This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #59

                                        War, no rights for most, war, war, more war, fight for rights (for everyone who wasn't an old, rich man) worldwide, more war, we got rights granted for a lot of groups, and now in the big 2025 they're being threatened because of said old rich men

                                        T 1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • A [email protected]

                                          Funnily enough RB, the author of F451, insists that everyone else is wrong, and that book is actually about falling literacy rates due to television viewership.

                                          B This user is from outside of this forum
                                          B This user is from outside of this forum
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                                          wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                          #60

                                          The book is prescient as hell. He saw the natural consequences of that reality and followed it to it’s logical, inevitable ends. He may not have intended for the book to be about censorship, but censorship is an unavoidable, inevitable outcome for a society in which most people are uneducated, uninformed, ambivalent ignoramuses. There will always be someone to take advantage of them and to make sure that advantage is defended.

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