Memorising?

sufi

lala
How many poems can you recite? Can you recite anything from memory?

Obvs verse and song are great aids to memorisation, but we don't really use that part of our brain any more isnt it? compared to the days of Homer etc when people were able to memorise enormous quantities of verse - the quran, beowolf and so on,

what is the effect of all that spare capacity - is it convertible into other brain functions?
 
Nothing has happened since 2012 when we outsourced loads of functions to the smartphone and lost lots of the sensory immersion and grounding experiences that community and culture thrive on. there was a definite break around then and we wont realise how bad it was until its too late
 

sufi

lala
Even how we describe these memory functions can be defined in computer analogies now, and memorising is like the ROM function - the storage facility - & it has been most easy function to outsource, to swap out with tech - from cuneiforms to wikipedia,

in computer terms it's a different type of memory to RAM which is the active processing, calculating memory - what they are attempting to replicate with AI, but that's slippery to define compared to the storage function.

And it's different to memories of events that you experienced which are also slippery and malleable - and more difficult to squeeze into the computer analogy
 

sufi

lala
Nothing has happened since 2012 when we outsourced loads of functions to the smartphone and lost lots of the sensory immersion and grounding experiences that community and culture thrive on. there was a definite break around then and we wont realise how bad it was until its too late
people comment about how wikipedia has replaced a few of our little cultural behaviours like wondering about a fact, or tracking down an expert,

but if you think about the volume of sloshing grey matter inside your skull that could be re-purposed as a ... a what?
 
Even how we describe these memory functions can be defined in computer analogies now, and memorising is like the ROM function - the storage facility - & it has been most easy function to outsource, to swap out with tech - from cuneiforms to wikipedia,

in computer terms it's a different type of memory to RAM which is the active processing, calculating memory - what they are attempting to replicate with AI, but that's slippery to define compared to the storage function.

And it's different to memories of events that you experienced which are also slippery and malleable - and more difficult to squeeze into the computer analogy

 

sufi

lala
Nothing has happened since 2012 when we outsourced loads of functions to the smartphone and lost lots of the sensory immersion and grounding experiences that community and culture thrive on. there was a definite break around then and we wont realise how bad it was until its too late
what happened in 2012 was the big connect where the outsourcing gained a whole new dimension
 

sufi

lala
It gets converted into paranoia, anxiety, depression and creating, worrying about and attempting to solve unnecessary problems. That's the impression I get from social media anyway.
I spose that one answer to what we do with the spare capacity, perhaps framed more positively, is all this cultural behaviour we indulge in

& perhaps all the emotional behaviours like panicking about losing keys or getting a bit of emasculated road rage all the way thru to paranoia and mentalness are also sort of distractions to fill the gap left when we stopped worrying about dolphinosauruses
 
Nothing has happened since 2012 when we outsourced loads of functions to the smartphone and lost lots of the sensory immersion and grounding experiences that community and culture thrive on. there was a definite break around then and we wont realise how bad it was until its too late

This was me doing indisputable luka
 

woops

is not like other people
i can remember phone numbers from 15+ years ago. i can't recite much poetry but i can remember loads and loads of music for the keyboard. i reckon i could play tunes for let's say three hours without repeating myself or improvising. something like that

it's my belief that you SUBCONSCIOUSLY remember everything you see, every word you read etc but the conscious mind doesn't have access to it all for some reason
 

luka

Well-known member
i can remember phone numbers from 15+ years ago. i can't recite much poetry but i can remember loads and loads of music for the keyboard. i reckon i could play tunes for let's say three hours without repeating myself or improvising. something like that
I'm certainly not calling you a liar but I do have to note that any time you molest a keyboard you always play chopsticks
 

version

Well-known member
I spose that one answer to what we do with the spare capacity, perhaps framed more positively, is all this cultural behaviour we indulge in

& perhaps all the emotional behaviours like panicking about losing keys or getting a bit of emasculated road rage all the way thru to paranoia and mentalness are also sort of distractions to fill the gap left when we stopped worrying about dolphinosauruses
This is one of the theories about the prevalence of anxiety in the west these days. That we're about as safe as humans have ever been, but the old instincts and pathways are still there and now get triggered by trivial things and abstract threats we encounter through the media so there's no real fight or flight to relieve the sensation. You just live with this low level state of unease and no exit.
 
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