Change can be chronic yet not readily perceptible. We live so much more of life than we're inclined to remember. While the more attuned may be aware of small changes and historic differences, it's easy to be oblivious to accumulative effects over time. Consequently, when standards are lowered little by little, our expectations can change, and each successive generation is unaware of the environmental conditions of years past.
Ecological decline in a particular place may be more extreme than scientific data indicate. Knowledge extinction occurs when we forget our own experiences. This magnifies when we fail to capture the experiences of previous generations. Su was concerned about the things that can slip through the numerical measuring of nature. Her barometer was based on her own experience and that of her forebears. It relied on knowledge being continuously passed down. So what happens if those things not only slip through the data, but through memory as well?
Underground Lovers: Encounters with Fungi, Alison Pouliot
