Amnesia: 1: loss of memory due usually to brain injury, shock, fatigue, repression, or illness 2: a gap in one’s memory 3: the selective overlooking or ignoring of events or acts that are not favorable or useful to one’s purpose or position (Webster).
Amnesia, as Webster’s definition #1 says, has been the subject of many stories — real or imagined. An outstanding example is the true story of Anastasia, the Russian czar’s heiress who had amnesia and had forgotten who she really was.
It is a long-accepted truism that mankind is a bundle of extremes. Like a pendulum, at one time men’s opinion on a matter may swing one way and the next time the other way. For example, years ago baggy pants were the fashion. Now trendy pants are as tight as they can be!
But at most times men tend to be “polarized” — some people are camped in one opinion while others are camped in an opposite opinion. America’s well-established two-party political system is a good example of polarity.