Day 222
A friend mentioned to me that studies have been done demonstrating that our memories of past feelings are usually aggrandized to a certain extent; that is, we remember a happy time as being happier than we really felt it at the time, and likewise with sad times, etc.
Sure, that sounds true enough. Memory is a terribly inaccurate thing; criminal lawyers and detectives will tell you that eyewitness testimony is typically the most unreliable sort of evidence. Likewise, we all have inaccurate or misconstrued memories of things. Ever been back to a childhood playground, or classroom? Everything looks different, usually much smaller (as you are bigger). Your childhood memory of the objects doesn't really match up at all with your recent memory of them, even though the objects are the same.
The simple conclusion is that the sensory apparatus that does the perceiving effects the memory just as does the raw sensory input. You aren't so much remembering objects, but a weird combination of the objects and yourself from when they were perceived. I believe that if one takes a very inquisitive and perspicuous effort into understanding the content of distant memories, much can be parced out. Interesting little windows can be opened.
Sure, that sounds true enough. Memory is a terribly inaccurate thing; criminal lawyers and detectives will tell you that eyewitness testimony is typically the most unreliable sort of evidence. Likewise, we all have inaccurate or misconstrued memories of things. Ever been back to a childhood playground, or classroom? Everything looks different, usually much smaller (as you are bigger). Your childhood memory of the objects doesn't really match up at all with your recent memory of them, even though the objects are the same.
The simple conclusion is that the sensory apparatus that does the perceiving effects the memory just as does the raw sensory input. You aren't so much remembering objects, but a weird combination of the objects and yourself from when they were perceived. I believe that if one takes a very inquisitive and perspicuous effort into understanding the content of distant memories, much can be parced out. Interesting little windows can be opened.
Comments
On a related topic, Antonio Damasio (who's book, Looking for Spinoza, I'm still reading)writes expertly on the neurology and corresponding bodily experience of emotions. He explains how all our individual experiences of worldly objects, as well as the series of thoughts, memories, and words that become associated with those objects, affect us on a an emotional level, in addition to the obvious 5-senses level. All the material of our direct experience (including our thoughts and memories) serve as "emotionally competent stimuli" or triggers which incite more or less holistic changes in the operation and composition of our bodies. When the relevant body state is reached, our feelings will reflect this at a conscious level. We tend to share a basic range of emotional triggers in common, for evolutionary reasons, but many subtler shades of emotion will be unique from one individual to the next, due to his or her personal life experiences.
What is important is that we never experience anything without having some kind of associated emotional colour, no matter how inconsequential. If we were deprived of this, we wouldn't be able to learn, adapt, communicate, and ultimately survive as human beings. Certain kinds of mental illness are the result of an unfortunate anomaly: information provided by our sensory apparatus, in specific situations is characterized by the absence of the relevant emotional response mechanisms.