Philosophy
A friend was relaying a conversation she had a few years back when her kids were quite young. The family had taken an incredible long-distance trip and a friend remarked to her that it was a waste because the kids were so young they would never remember it.
How important is memory to the value of an experience? We certainly endow remembered events with meanings by creating stories. Some are stories in themselves if they are especially interesting or amusing. Major happenings are woven into complex narratives serving as pivot points, allowing us to use them as explanatory tools in describing who we are and how we got to be where and who we are.
But what of all the moments lost? Are they meaningless? Anyone who has ever kept a journal realizes just how much of our own past fails to survive the editing. We remember so little of what was our own lives. If you know that you would forget something, does that diminish its value in any sense?
- Dream Interpretation
Last night I dreamed that I was playing in a pick-up basketball game against a young Carol Burnett. I could rebound over her, but she was in my face and I couldn't get off a good shot. What did it mean? Did it mean anything? There is a long tradition...
- On Those Who Gave Their Lives
On Veteran's day, it is appropriate to think about those who gave their lives. There are those who died, lives of hope and promise terribly amputated from young people who hopefully understood the cause. But those who perished are not the only ones...
- Meet The Parents: Introducing Your Philosopher To The Non-philosophers In Your Life
Unless you have no friendships and/or biological connections with other people (it happens), there will come a point where you will find yourself in a place where you will have to introduce friends or family members to your philosopher. As with any other...
- Shit Happens - The Economics Version
If you're anything like me, your memory sucks, big time. So how do you manage to remember events, definitions, dates, names, concepts and so on? Well, one possible method is to employ the use of mnemonics or heuristic devices designed to create associations...
- Imagination Can Sometimes Be Better Than Reality...ray Bradbury's "the Rocket"
An anthology including The Rocket. Plot [Wikipedia]... The story begins with Fiorello Bodoni, a poor junkyard owner, who spends his nights admiring nearby rocket launches bound for the Moon, Venus and Mars. After six years, he has finally saved enough...
Philosophy
Memory, Meaning, and Value
A friend was relaying a conversation she had a few years back when her kids were quite young. The family had taken an incredible long-distance trip and a friend remarked to her that it was a waste because the kids were so young they would never remember it.
How important is memory to the value of an experience? We certainly endow remembered events with meanings by creating stories. Some are stories in themselves if they are especially interesting or amusing. Major happenings are woven into complex narratives serving as pivot points, allowing us to use them as explanatory tools in describing who we are and how we got to be where and who we are.
But what of all the moments lost? Are they meaningless? Anyone who has ever kept a journal realizes just how much of our own past fails to survive the editing. We remember so little of what was our own lives. If you know that you would forget something, does that diminish its value in any sense?
- Dream Interpretation
Last night I dreamed that I was playing in a pick-up basketball game against a young Carol Burnett. I could rebound over her, but she was in my face and I couldn't get off a good shot. What did it mean? Did it mean anything? There is a long tradition...
- On Those Who Gave Their Lives
On Veteran's day, it is appropriate to think about those who gave their lives. There are those who died, lives of hope and promise terribly amputated from young people who hopefully understood the cause. But those who perished are not the only ones...
- Meet The Parents: Introducing Your Philosopher To The Non-philosophers In Your Life
Unless you have no friendships and/or biological connections with other people (it happens), there will come a point where you will find yourself in a place where you will have to introduce friends or family members to your philosopher. As with any other...
- Shit Happens - The Economics Version
If you're anything like me, your memory sucks, big time. So how do you manage to remember events, definitions, dates, names, concepts and so on? Well, one possible method is to employ the use of mnemonics or heuristic devices designed to create associations...
- Imagination Can Sometimes Be Better Than Reality...ray Bradbury's "the Rocket"
An anthology including The Rocket. Plot [Wikipedia]... The story begins with Fiorello Bodoni, a poor junkyard owner, who spends his nights admiring nearby rocket launches bound for the Moon, Venus and Mars. After six years, he has finally saved enough...