Thursday, July 23, 2009

The Vagaries of Memory

Every creature on the planet, be it mammal, reptile, insect or bird, share one feature; a brain. Every brain, regardless of what it belongs to, share one feature; memory. Animals use this function to remember the location of food and danger.

Human beings, are so advanced intellectually that we have created devices that remember for us. Mobile phones, PDAs, and so on. These devices remember with no bias and that is very necessary. This is because memory like truth, depends very much upon your point of view. No memory is infallible, personal beliefs, opinions and emotions colour every thing.

It is difficult to explain and many will likely disbelieve it, but our view of the world depends very much on the precepts that lie within our mind. The mind is all powerful, and the beliefs it holds can alter our very reality.

Case in point, I have a fairly accurate memory but there are occasions where my memory differs from the recollection of others. This is mostly true of situations with my mother. She rarely ever remembers things the same way that I do. This is why remembering devices are so important. Although knowing my mother, she wouldn't even believe the evidence of such devices. I dread to think that this is what I have to look forward to.

Just Me.