Seven ways to justify forgotten knowledge in your world
Almost every fantasy or science fiction setting has lost ancient knowledge, and it often feels unconvincing. Chris Winkle's June article on Mythcreants offers seven causes, and suggests combining several.
First, the knowledge may predate accessible records: societies that wrote little leave less behind, and even electronic storage can become unreadable. Second, the language may have died, making records hard to read, or been deliberately destroyed through linguicide. Third, the knowledge may be big and complex, so pieces get separated; Aristotle's Poetics survived through an Arabic version, but only the half on tragedy.
Fourth, few people may have had it in the first place. Greek fire, the Byzantine incendiary weapon, was so closely guarded that the recipe was eventually lost. Fifth, a widespread collapse can damage institutions and literacy, as with the Bronze Age collapse or the fall of Rome, though both were slower than the popular image.
Sixth, the knowledge may have been temporarily useless. The BBC wiped many early Doctor Who episodes because it needed the space, and a fantasy magic system could fade for centuries and leave spellbooks pointless. Seventh, misinformation can give people false confidence that they already have the answers, as the 1912 Piltdown Man hoax did for decades.
What I take from it is that knowledge survives when it stays relevant to many people. If you want a believable lost technology or lost spell, pick causes that match your world's history rather than simply saying it was forgotten.
Source: Mythcreants
First, the knowledge may predate accessible records: societies that wrote little leave less behind, and even electronic storage can become unreadable. Second, the language may have died, making records hard to read, or been deliberately destroyed through linguicide. Third, the knowledge may be big and complex, so pieces get separated; Aristotle's Poetics survived through an Arabic version, but only the half on tragedy.
Fourth, few people may have had it in the first place. Greek fire, the Byzantine incendiary weapon, was so closely guarded that the recipe was eventually lost. Fifth, a widespread collapse can damage institutions and literacy, as with the Bronze Age collapse or the fall of Rome, though both were slower than the popular image.
Sixth, the knowledge may have been temporarily useless. The BBC wiped many early Doctor Who episodes because it needed the space, and a fantasy magic system could fade for centuries and leave spellbooks pointless. Seventh, misinformation can give people false confidence that they already have the answers, as the 1912 Piltdown Man hoax did for decades.
What I take from it is that knowledge survives when it stays relevant to many people. If you want a believable lost technology or lost spell, pick causes that match your world's history rather than simply saying it was forgotten.
Source: Mythcreants
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