Under Construction

Memory and Recall

If only I could remember my name - Graeme Crosby

Index

What is Memory?

Why Memory Matters

Why Memory Is A Problem

Memory and Quantum Mechanics

What is Memory?

Everything we think of in a conscious manner, that is, everything that we are aware of, ought we might think, be able to form the basis of some future recollection of that thought, i.e. memory seems to require that something has been observed, or noticed in the fist place.

But, what actually is Memory? Meaning, how and where are memories stored, and how does that affect future recall of past memories?

Why Memory Matters

Memory is central to any perception that we exist as individuals. Yes we do have bodies, and by implication, brains. But without memory, we are no better off than Clive Wearing (born 11 May 1938) the British former musicologist, conductor, tenor and pianist who developed chronic anterograde and retrograde amnesia in 1985. Much as Clive, and others, suffer greatly through damaged memory, not least the many who develop Alzheimer's, without proper understanding of memory in all its states, we must be at some disadvantage when it comes to helping such situations. Added to which, if we want better memory function, then it would seem proper understanding of memory would help that too.

Why Memory Is A Problem

Memory is as much a hard problem as is consciousness, for the obvious reason that memory is of consciousness, and the conclusion of Iconism is that while consciousness is supported, underpinned, by active brains, the conscioousness itself, the qualia, and anything that could be likened to 'such stuff as dreams are made on', is composed of facts rather than material things, i.e. the memories can only be composed of consciousness that emerges from brain activity plus recall.

This points to a picture where brains store some structures that facilitate the recall of memories, but the actual facts of memory form part of any quantum function, these being entirely factual.

So, what can we say about the process of recall?

Any recall of memory starts with a gap in the current state of mind, and the gap demands to be filled, and there are then a few possible ways in which the gap in consciousness can be alleviated:

Enquiry - any questioning of the external world, be it asking, experimenting, or just observing. In essence, any method that requires additional input - this is much like Mercury.

Deduction - any internal juggling of facts of consciousness that produces new facts of consciousness. This may well require some elements of recall.

Recall - any reconstruction of consciousness of facts that have previously been part of consciousness.

Imagination - any novel construction of partial facts, half-truths, and total fabrications.

For 1 & 2 we might be forgiven for imagining that the processes were entirely dependent on brain activity, i.e. the brain carries on with its usual guessing game, maybe with additional input, maybe not. But, for 3 there is a requirement for the active brain to start its guessing game, to reconstruct facts that may not in any complete way actually exist in what is known to be the very plastic environment of the brain. As for 4, does imagination have a role in recall? Well, the end product is not so different, and frequently memory proves to be faulty, yet still gives some kind of answer, however daft.

My question was always 'How does the brain know it has got it right?'

The way I think this goes is that the original gap has an abstract shape, that is empty, but will only allow certain jigsaw pieces in - they must be the correct shape, correct picture, etc. The more detailed the questioning, the more accurate the answer would have to be, to fit.

As part of that abstract shape are some material connections within the brain, and while these are brain connections, not facts themselves [beyond the mere physical fact], and certainly not consciousness, the plugged in connections facilitate the process of recall, speed it up, by providing a skeleton of some previous states of consciousness.

When we go to recall anything, we have to reconstruct the thought, the qualia of that thing. If we are to think of an English monarch, say in answer to a pub quiz question, we need to come up with a name, but we actually give ourselves many ancilliary facts, how many wives killed, and how well the portrait artist did, etc. The brain knows it is correct when no contradictions occur, so if we build a silhouette of 'my kingdom for a horse', we know we are not dealing with the wife killer, so 'Henry' can be jettisoned, and we can feel happy with the answer 'Richard'.

Memories, to be recalled, have to be, like thoughts, conceivable. The more detail we attach to the original thought, the more facts there are to aid in its later reconstruction.