The Fourth Turning: What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny

“The reward of the historian is to locate patterns that recur over time and to discover the natural rhythms of social experience.”

In their introductory chapter, Strauss and Howe explain that their fascination with generational research lies in discovering recurring patterns like the turnings and generational archetypes they identify. Whether all historians view this as their discipline’s “reward” is debatable, but it reflects Strauss and Howe’s insistence on the importance of cyclical time to historical research.

“Before, people prized the ability to divine nature’s energy and use it. Today, we prize the ability to defy nature’s energy and overcome it.” 

In their discussion concerning the different ways in which people have viewed time over the millennia, Strauss and Howe explain the difference between cyclical time and linear time. With cyclical time, everything depended upon nature’s seasons. With the ultimate acceptance of linear time and progress, humans had the ability to “overcome” these natural rhythms. For example, artificial light can defeat natural darkness, climate control technology can defeat nature’s seasonal cycle, and refrigeration can even defeat the agricultural cycle.

“It is through this linkage of biological aging and shared experience, reproduced across turnings and generations, that history acquires personal relevance.”

According to the authors, history acquires personal relevance because of markers of life and time. The events that we remember best reflect the emotional complexion of our phase of life at the time. We also share deeply felt associations with others who have the same markers of life and time—that is, a generation.