These are the two questions I want to get to. But like any good researcher, let's take a look at what experts and sort-of experts say. Just a little tiny bit. I don't want to bore you or boar you or pig you or cow-and-chicken you so don't worry. It's just a teeny weeny itty bitty bit.
Experts Say What?? (Miley Cyrus reference)
LET'S ASK THE EXPERTS! :D
Like...the Smithsonian! :D
This is in 2010 so it's not like crystalized new information but it'll do.
Here is a quote that jumped out at me: "the very act of remembering can change our memories" (Miller, 2010).
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So then remembering will screw us???????
Another one "When you retell it, the memory becomes plastic, and whatever is present around you in the environment can interfere with the original content of the memory" (Miller, 2010).
Here's the linky link for the quotes above.
This tells us that remembering a memory can be dangerous and destructive and even the present is poisonous to our memories, (she says sarcastically of course).
Wikipedia Say What?? (second Miley Cyrus reference)
LET'S ASK THE SORT-OF EXPERTS! :D
"Memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved."
Okay...so memory is a process. Ah, I really really...*anticipate positive remark* don't understand at all! *fake ecstatic smile*
But memory explained in Wiki is very scientific with all the hippocampuses and neurons and stuff.
In Which I Give it a Go
Well! *throws arms up in air* Neither of these experty peeps answered the two big questions I want to answer! Which is fairly surprising cuz usually our old friend Wiki has everything. Then again, no one's perfect :) I forgive you, Wiki :)
So *cracks knuckles* let me take a whack at it! ("Parent Trap" film reference. If you've seen it as many times as I have, you'll know which scene I'm talking about...the Poker scene!)
Perhaps this means that times moves toward the future while memory stays in the past.
But is memory ONLY from the past or can it be created in the present as well?The word "memory" is a very strange word.
From my own understanding, it's a noun. For example, "My summer memory is..." Or, "my memory is getting weak."
And we also say "commit it to memory" for things like exams. When we commit something to memory, where are we putting it? Yes, that's right, memory becomes some form of location here.
When we remember a memory, it comes from the past, doesn't it?
I remember when I was three years old. Some people can remember things from when they were two or even one!
But are all memories created in the past or about something that happened in the past? What about the present? Every moment, every second that goes by as you're reading this is the present. There! There! There it is again! There! So fast!
Every second that goes by, quickly becomes the past. We can never go back to that second...kind of freaky, ain't it? :P
If memories are about the past, and the present becomes the past, wouldn't that mean memories are essentially created in the present? Without "a present" we have no past and no memory.
Yes, it is mind-turning freakish stuff here. But think about it very simply for a moment.
Every single bit of present becomes the past.
If we didn't have a time such as the present (which is impossible not to have I know), we will not have a past.
The AHA! Moment
So, memories are made up of pasts. Which means they are also made of up presents. Not Christmas presents or Birthday presents or any other kinds of presents, sorry to tell you that harsh reality.
In other words,
PAST = PRESENTS
(PAST = PRESENT + PRESENT + PRESENT +....)
Because, without the existence of all those presents, we have no past.
CRAAAZZZYY!
Yeah, I know :) Take deep breaths, guys, deep easy breaths, we'll get through this.
*breathing*
*breathing*
Here's a cookie. Okay, let's go.
The Conclusion Part
Q: What is memory?
A: Memories are, essentially, created in the present.
Q: What are the ingredients for memory?
A: Little pieces of present turned into pasts.
Memory is made up of pieces of present that have turned into pasts because time moves forward into the future.
We never really see the present. Even a millisecond is a little bitty present. Actually the present is so extremely short we don't notice it until it has become the past. And once it becomes the past, it is already a memory. Whether you want to keep it is of course up to you unless you have photographic memory.
And when you think about it, we are creating memory every millisecond and milli-milli-second-second (idk what the shorter one's called).
OMG. Even all those mundane stuffs are stored in our melon heads...good grief! :0
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| Melonhead Cat. I remember when this was viral. That means I have destroyed my memory!...Darn it. |
See ya later, alligators :)
This was a really fun read...there, just created a fun memory! It surely is true that we may not "remember" things as they have happened but we remember then through our interpretative lens of the present. I can look back and see something as that "sucked" or as "hmm, I really learned a lot then and it is helping me now"....Thanks for sharing, lot to think about, chew on, chewbaca on, and consider! Interesting and fun!
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