Symbols allow continuity to extend beyond immediate interaction.
Words, images, rituals, narratives, records, and other symbolic forms make it possible for information, meaning, and knowledge to persist through time.
Social groups therefore do not rely solely upon individual memory.
They develop systems of social memory.
These systems preserve organisational resources that can be transmitted across generations and made available to individuals who did not participate in their original creation.
Symbolic systems dramatically expand the timescale of continuity.
They allow knowledge, practices, and traditions to persist beyond the lifetimes of particular individuals.
Symbols are therefore among the most powerful mechanisms of social continuity.