Blog Post #9

Memory is very important in defining who we are as individuals. Our memories and experiences are what shape us to be who we are. If we didn't have memory nothing would matter because we wouldn't be able to remember it. If someone called you a bad name you would just forget it. We wouldn't be able to be students because how would we learn. We wouldn't be able to remember how to do anything. Clive is pretty much just a person that I don't know stands around. He can't remember anything happening. As soon as things enter his minds they just fade to nothing. He doesn't remember if anyone came to visit him or what he did a half hour ago. I can not even imagine being his wife. He remembers that she is his wife but since his memory loss incident he doesn't remember anything else. Clive couldn't even remember his own daughters name. How can anyone deal with that. I mean sure he loves her and strongly loves her but still how can she deal with that. She can visit him 30 times a day in his room and every time it will seem like the first time to him. When she talks to him about his diary he gets upset that she keeps mentioning it because he can not remember writing any of it. I have no idea how I would handle my spouse if they were like Clive. I honestly don't think I could do it. After seeing this video I am very grateful that I have the ability to remember things. If I couldn't I don't know what I would do. Well I wouldn't be able to remember but ya how can anyone deal with that.
After learning about memory in this section of the book and with the various videos, I wonder how accurate my memory actually is. Are all my memories of my young age correct, or are they influenced by stories I have heard about them. I still trust my own memories because what else am I going to trust. I can't trust other people's memories when they may not have experienced it like I did. When I think about it, how much of my memories am I sure are accurate. Look at the case of Ronald Cotton. Jennifer was absolutely positive it was him, but in the end it wasn't. When she saw the real criminal and Cotton next to each other she still thought it was Ronald Cotton. It puzzles me how much our memories can be affected by outside stimuli. One of the memory exercises I did was the penny exercise. When all those pennies popped up they all looked like they coudl be the right one. I thought about it in my mind and when I picked the one I thought was correct, I was wrong. My memory wasn't 100% accurate. Even though it wasn't accurate I still trust it. What would I do if I had no memory. You just have to trust the one you have.
An important concept I read about in this section is on improving memory. Improving your memory is imporant because then you can remember more things. This would fix the problem of not trusting your memory. If you make it better so you can remember more and remember it more accurately then you won't have to worry about not trusting it. There are a variety of ways to improve your memory and most are very easy to do. These can be applied to my real life because if I had enough ambition to actually try and improve my memory then I could have a good memory. Unfortunately I feel that my memory is fine for now and I don't think I will be doing any of the memory exercises.