A side-effect of capitalism is the destruction of community. Back in the day when nuclear families weren’t the only kind of family possible, first-time parents leart all of this from their in-laws. But now they need to take parenting classes.
I’m from semi-rural India, and it worked that way when I was a kid, but things are starting to change there as well.
That’s due to the lack of medical knowledge. Even doctors used to recommend dangerous shit back in the day. (Heck, they used to think that babies don’t feel much pain as recently as the 1980s. Archive link.) So, it’s not really an argument against communal knowledge. Also, I’m not arguing against medical help. Everyone should always seek medical help when having kids, but the communal knowledge is necessary as well.
It is indeed due to the lack of medical knowledge. The thing is, so called “generational wisdom” is basically a synonym for lack of knowledge, medical or otherwise. When your go-to source of knowledge is the elders from your community, it stops you from seeking more relevant, and almost certainly more correct knowledge. Community isn’t smart, community is dominated by people who are speaking the loudest, the community consensus revolves around certainty, and people who know the most tend to be least certain in their language.
A side-effect of capitalism is the destruction of community. Back in the day when nuclear families weren’t the only kind of family possible, first-time parents leart all of this from their in-laws. But now they need to take parenting classes.
I’m from semi-rural India, and it worked that way when I was a kid, but things are starting to change there as well.
And so much of that was dangerous bullshit, it’s unbelievable. So many children died because of that.
That’s due to the lack of medical knowledge. Even doctors used to recommend dangerous shit back in the day. (Heck, they used to think that babies don’t feel much pain as recently as the 1980s. Archive link.) So, it’s not really an argument against communal knowledge. Also, I’m not arguing against medical help. Everyone should always seek medical help when having kids, but the communal knowledge is necessary as well.
It is indeed due to the lack of medical knowledge. The thing is, so called “generational wisdom” is basically a synonym for lack of knowledge, medical or otherwise. When your go-to source of knowledge is the elders from your community, it stops you from seeking more relevant, and almost certainly more correct knowledge. Community isn’t smart, community is dominated by people who are speaking the loudest, the community consensus revolves around certainty, and people who know the most tend to be least certain in their language.