History, is over-rated. Yes, there is a lot that can be learned from the stories of the past, and mistakes that never need making again. But, seriously, how much history do we need? Do we really need a record of every transaction, every thought and every social interaction? The coder and generative artist within me loves the idea of these huge archives, these meta-pictures of humanity that might be used as data sources for visualisation and analysis. But on an individual level I find myself fighting against the contributions I am being forced to make to the collective.