Memory

Ancient teachings define memory as an indicator of our loyalty to ourselves. Indeed, memory allows us to store experiences and to revive and recognize them as part of our own existence and identity through recollection. It is the keeper of our entire experience, everything we recognize as our own personality.

It is unnecessary to emphasize how important memory is to us. If we do not store lived experiences, it is as if we never had them. Without memory, learning, thinking, self-awareness, awareness of the continuity of our own existence, the past, and consequently the vision of the future would not be possible. Life would be only the present moment, or more precisely, a series of present moments, always the same or always new. We would be like a newly born child who sees everything for the first time. Knowing that human beings develop through learning and collecting experiences, it is easy to conclude that memory is a prerequisite for our development as human beings.

There are numerous studies in which psychologists have examined the role of memory in our daily lives, as well as its impact on our cognitive abilities. samo ljudskom vrstom povezano svojstvo. Naprotiv, cijela priroda pamti. Biljke, životinje i čak i mikroorganizmi mogu pohranjivati informacije i koristiti ih u svrhu preživljavanja i prilagodbe. Na primjer, biljke pamte kada trebaju cvjetati ili kada trebaju spavati zimi. Životinje pamte najbolja mjesta za pronalaženje hrane ili skloništa. Čak i mikroorganizmi poput bakterija mogu pamtiti gdje su pronašle hranjive tvari kako bi se mogli vratiti tamo. Ova sposobnost pamćenja u cijeloj prirodi svjedoči o važnosti ovog procesa u životu svih organizama.

Ukratko, pamćenje je složen proces koji uključuje mehanizme i aktivnosti u mozgu, ali i cijelom tijelu. Ono što pamćenje čini važnim je ono što pamtimo i kako to utječe na naše iskustvo i našu sposobnost prilagodbe. Ovaj proces nije samo rezerviran za ljude, već ga dijele svi oblici života u prirodi. Stoga je važno obratiti pažnju na sadržaje koje unosimo u svoju svijest i odabrati one koji će nas podržati i potaknuti na rast i razvoj. Memory is the privilege of a human being. Whether on an individual or species level, every living being develops and adopts new experiences based on accumulated knowledge. Therefore, every living being needs memory. This is easily observable in more evolved animals. A dog learns commands from its owner and masters skills through memory. The same goes for all other animals that can be trained or develop certain behavioral habits.

However, even simpler animals possess memory that enables them to acquire new experiences. In the 1950s, an experiment was conducted with worms, in which they were taught that light signified pain using light and electric current. Afterward, the worms were cut in half, and each half developed into a new, separate individual, with each reacting to light in the same way as the “parent” worm. The experience of pain was memorized and passed on to new beings.

As a result of species-level memory, instinctive animal behaviors can be explained, such as the consistent construction of nests or the way they fly. team formations, finding their way to destinations, and defending themselves from danger. In the broadest sense, the result of memory is the growth and development of a seed, photosynthesis in plants, and the construction of crystalline structures in minerals. Moreover, every cell has some form of its own consciousness and even the ability to transmit information, communicate over distances.

The whole nature remembers. Of course, not in the same way. The complexity of memory depends on the demands of the development of each species. Humans are at the top of the evolutionary ladder of living beings on Earth, possessing self-awareness, so their ability to remember is the most advanced. Perhaps the most important difference between human memory and that of other living beings is the human ability for voluntary memory. Only humans can choose what they will remember.

Two ways of remembering

Out of all the divisions of memory mentioned today, we will highlight one that seems most important for this topic. Humans can remember by “impressing” a certain content into their consciousness through repetition and thus forming a habit. A child learns a lot times read and write a letter until they remember it and learn to reproduce it automatically. In the same way, we memorized poems, multiplication tables, grammatical rules, and acquired social and professional skills. What is characteristic of this type of memory is that understanding or conscious intention to memorize something is not necessary – repetition is enough.

The value and purpose of this memory is that it facilitates our functioning in material reality. However, a problem arises when we form attitudes, accept ideas, and a value system, i.e. when we form habits in the realm of emotions and thinking in this way. Being accustomed to thinking and feeling means always being the same, not learning and not changing. We observe everything that happens to us through the same set of values, reducing every new experience to a common familiar denominator. Then, we always either like or dislike the same things, we always fear the same things, we always want the same things without considering how all of this makes sense. We spin in a circle of old, established patterns. Experiencing and behavior, closed towards the possibility of perceiving reality differently.

We can remember in a different way as well. Some events are etched into our memory even though we have experienced them only once. It is enough to see a movie once and remember some touching scenes, see a beautiful sunset once, read a book once, or hear captivating music once. Repetition is not necessary for us to remember something, we remember because of the power of the experience itself. At one moment, we become aware of something that changes us, and it remains indelible in our memory as part of our experience. Like a small child who looks at the world with wide-open eyes, absorbing new knowledge from every situation, this type of memory enables us to break out of established patterns, to constantly learn and change.

Both ways of remembering complement each other and it is difficult to strictly separate them in the same situation. We can remember the content of a book due to a powerful experience, and at the same time, by rereading certain parts, we remember them through repetition. I eat. Similarly, both ways of remembering are necessary for a person, but not in the same way. Through repetition, we consolidate old, familiar material. To acquire new experiences, the power of immediate experience is necessary.

Role of memory

Figuratively speaking, nature doesn’t give anything without a reason. Both our physical organs and all mechanisms of our psyche, including memory, have a specific task. Just as our hands can perform noble actions but also completely senseless and useless ones, so can our “psychic hands” be completely useless if we don’t use them properly. For a person who is aware of their own human nature, both ways of remembering can be useless. Memorizing a lot of data can make us a good encyclopedia, but not a better person. Similarly, a strong experience can be triggered by completely banal content, after which we don’t retain any valuable experience in our memory.

Traditional teachings state that a person’s life is a journey from earth to heaven in which they gradually fulfill themselves as a whole. This profound human being. We pass through the stages of this path by becoming aware of everything that belongs to human nature, which we can simply call human virtues. And memory plays an important role in that. Memory is the storage of experiences that we later recall and use in our lives. It is vital to consider what kind of experiences we have had, what we have learned from them, and whether we have become aware of any elements of our human nature.

Unconscious memory, as a result of random experiences, is as useless as using our own hands unconsciously and randomly. Occasionally, we might be able to do something meaningful, but the result would certainly not satisfy us. The same goes for memory: the effort of will is necessary to remember useful experiences, which will direct our attention towards what is valuable and helpful for our development. This means being mindful of how we spend our time, the environment we surround ourselves with, what we think about, the experiences we allow ourselves to have – in short, consciously choosing and controlling what we receive and remember. That’s how we become creators of our own destiny because tomorrow we will remember what we remember today.

Forgetfulness – the disease of today’s world

It is not enough to just remember, it is also necessary to remember what we have remembered, not to forget. Living and developing as a human being means constantly growing based on our own experiences. Forgetfulness is the death of experience due to its non-use and therefore a reflection of our lack of interest in ourselves.

Today we are convinced that we possess more knowledge than any civilization before us. It is certain that we have learned a lot that people before us did not know, especially about the material world, but it seems that our predecessors were not particularly interested in exploring the physical world. Written and material monuments of ancient cultures show that they were more interested in spiritual rather than physical reality and accordingly, they taught people how to achieve their true nature, how to live meaningfully and develop. For us, those are forgotten knowledge, so much forgotten. We are lazy to underestimate and reject them as redundant because of misunderstanding.

Our civilization suffers from forgetfulness. We don’t recognize wisdom in the experiences of the past and we don’t use them. As a result, modern man doesn’t understand himself, doesn’t know who he is, doesn’t know how to live to truly be happy, doesn’t know why he even exists. The value system imposed on us is materialistic, so far removed from humane and moral that it causes apathy.

Today we need a new renaissance in which man will awaken old memories and renew forgotten knowledge in order to recognize himself again. Because we need to move forward, embrace new experiences, take one step further in realizing ourselves. Then, as ancient teachings say, memory will truly reflect our loyalty to ourselves and our human nature.