"People forget where they come from." A statement by a custodian here at the hospital, who is getting a surgical tech degree, and notes that people are harsh on newcomers.

It's the human condition, isn't it? Psychologically we live with our past - it shapes our thoughts and reactions. But we like to forget the past sometimes. And when we don't remember it, and we don't meditate on it from time to time, it can control us in ways that are suboptimal.

Similar processes occur in history, and in the flow of human culture. Every word we speak is a metaphor invented by someone in the past, maybe a thousand years ago. Without looking at the origins of our culture, we risk being captured by its dark side, and making mistakes that we could avoid.