Chapter 8 Blog

Memory is everything.   I always like to say that we should live in the present, but it is our memories of our past experiences that help us make decisions, important decisions.  I remember that, as a child, when I touched the stove top, I got burned.  This memory, although painful, helps me to not touch the stove.  This prevents my hand from looking like a charred hamburger.  Also, moral decisions are impacted by memory.  I remember that last time I lied to my parents, they found out and I was punished, so I try to prevent that now.  This makes me a better human being.  Also, humans are social beings.  We need to communicate and share our feelings with others, especially women.  If a person didn't have any memories of anyone, how would they be able to confide in a friend.  They wouldn't have any friends.  

If we didn't have memory, life would be miserable.  We would live in a continuous state of confusion, and worry.  We would never have a single happy moment.  The bright side is we wouldn't remember being constantly worried and sad.  

Clive Waring lives a miserable life.  However, he isn't depressed.  He is happy most of the time because every minute is as if it is the first minute he is alive.  Everything is new and exciting.  It would be hard to hold a relationship with him however.  

I do think about memory differently now.  I have found that I use the memory techniques a lot more often in an attempt to have a greater capacity for memory.  Also, I have learned to not depend completely on my memory.  Our brains can change them.  It may be hard to almost impossible to recognize, but it happens.  It's mind boggling.  With that said, I do trust my memories to a point.  However, when it starts to impact others, I have to be able to say that my memory might be corrupted.  

The most important thing that I learned is about the eye witness testimony.  This is the idea that the mind doesn't record everything exactly as it happened.  It changes it as new information is represented.  This is important because we have to learn that we can't depend strictly on our memory because we are setting ourselves up for failure.