I’ve always been fascinated by the shortcomings of judgment ..especially my own. One of my favorites is the way I read critical intentions into the innocent things other people say. The other day my dad tells me that he cannot conceive of the way I keep a journal ~ and it sounds to me like he’s saying that he doesn’t approve of the way I keep a journal ~ which makes me feel like it's a frivolous waste of time. I’m also pretty good at slowing down the learning process. This happens when I hear something new and immediately search memory for something that, on the surface, sounds familiar and allows me to say: “I already knew that.” For example, world trade ..? “that's been around since the days of Christopher Columbus” ..and I don't stop and consider the implications for today. Studies have shown that the ability to form new memories depends on the surprise-value of information. This tends to favor young people because the stuff they hear is still relatively new and surprising. However, once the novelty wears off ..receptivity diminishes and retention suffers. So, I figure the best way to keep a healthy memory is by trying to re-capture the days of my youth ~ see things fresh ~ and allow myself to be surprised more often. Oh no, wait ..that’s my rationalization for not acting like an adult more often.
6 comments:
I think "acting like an adult" is way overrated, and "frivolous wastes of time" way underrated. Cheers to those of us, the free thinking voices, who refuse to join "the Borg"...
Good post. Thanks.
Bill
Could honesty be the key to memory? It seems like the denial you referred to from your dad is how we imply to ourselves that things aren't worth remembering. Storytelling is that childlike foundation for lifes' integrity ~ thanks for sharing your journal
Thank you Bill ..that’s definitely the right perspective!!
Thank you Bradford ..I think you’re right, there are many keys to memory .. storytelling is definitely one ..as well as how I answer the question ..is it worth remembering later.
...hhhmmmm... I hear ya on that one. There's not much that I see or hear that surprises me anymore, that I'm to the point of near complacency. Now, put me out in nature and I FEEL the newness of each new day and feel like a child again. But, sitting next to my significant other, watching tv, and I can't believe the things that excite him, while I need something more than a visual, these days, in order to induce excitement. I need something to surround me, envelope me. Something that I can touch and feel. Recently, I watched a bit on public television that was all about the brain and how it can continue to grow and thrive if we are learning NEW information. It even showed images of brain scans while one was in the act of learning. It seems that, often, we repeat the same patterns over and over, something that we learned, previously (say, for instance, you crochet, you continue to crochet, but you don't learn any new patterns)... according to the info, yes, you will continue to know how to crochet if you keep repeating the pattern... however, if you do not find something NEW to learn then your brain power diminishes, and the brain scans look like land with inlets coming further and further inland, the inlets being reduction of brain power. On the other hand, the goods news is that if we force ourselves to learn new things, then our brain power expands (or, at least doesn't diminish, should have paid more attention, that bit of info would be important). What a powerful thing the brain is! There were bits on men who had been injured in war, and who had paralysis, but who were able to regain movement of their limbs just be simple repetitious movement. I should exercise my brain more often, instead I have, indeed, fallen into complacency.
Interesting what Brad says about denial. We do what we have to do, in terms of how we process information, in order to make our world snuggly enough to make it through the next day. This, I know, from experience. We have to, at times, create our own reality. We can't always change the relationship, nor the information (all this, the reality)... but, we can rearrange it, eh?
I hope this makes sense :) and fits in with what you were talking about here.
Shimmerrings ~ definitely makes sense and fits in here ..
I hear what you’re saying about being in nature ..not easy to walk away and go ..well, I got that all figured out.
I’m also afraid of becoming too scripted in the way I understand ..and respond to others. I see it in myself, and other people, who already know what I’m saying ..and have an answer ready ..before I’ve finished the first sentence.
You probably don’t remember the names you heard on public television ..but one of the speakers, Mike Merzenich, is a big promoter of neuro-retraining. He’s also one of the links on my ‘job log’ ..if you want to read about his contribution to reading development.
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