Memories of the 28th Century

*
Memory is strange. The human memory isn’t completely analogous with computer hard drives, but there is a lot of similarity. The biggest difference is that we can’t tell whether our memories are accurate. But with magnetic memory we can’t tell whether the data was accurately recorded; although errors in the actual memory are usually obvious. There may be errors in our memories, but the brain plasters those over with something, so we can’t tell whether there was an error or something else actually happened.
*
There are ways that one might acquire memories that do not agree with what most people remember. And I have learned that one should never try to use language as a fact, because the regional differences in English and other languages are larger than you think. And no one believes published sources. I recently learned that what I learned as correct spelling is unacceptable to nearly everyone now; specifically I learned that adding suffixes to words that end in a consonant proceeded by a short vowel one doubles the consonant and adds the suffix, because leaving the consonant single would make the vowel long. I have encountered a number of people who remember the same rule, but the overwhelming majority of people do not remember anything like that. I was happy that I found places that cite some version of the rule that agree with what I remember. Actually, that rule still fits many words, but for some words there are different rules; for example “traveler” is thought by most people to be correct, instead of “traveller”; but “beginning” is considered to be correct also. It's enough to make someone wonder whether he had been moved to a different universe.
*
Even odder is the matter of “till”. When I was young that was either a cash drawer or ploughing a field, but recently it has come to be used in place of “’til” the contracted form of until. I haven’t been able to figure out when that arose, because printed sources indicate that the new usage is centuries old. This is one of the strongest reasons for me to believe that I have been shifted to a different branch of the Omniverse.
*
As I noted above, I can’t really be certain that my completely clear memories are correct. Even though I can remember Mrs. Murphy, my second grade teacher (she lived in the house where George Washington slept on Hartford Avenue in North Uxbridge), enunciating the rule on doubling the final consonant when adding suffixes that is not proof of anything, except that I claim to have that memory, and I can think of arguments that it might not even be that.
*
On the other hand, the human memory is comparable to magnetic data storage, and my memories might be correct, even though I simply can’t prove them. There aren’t any good arguments for this position; although on the surface it seems obviously true. It is possible and reasonable that memory distortion is one of the tools that our subconscious minds use to condition us to do what they want done. Thus we may remember only what it is good for us to remember.
*
Apparently there are at least two ways in which a poor memory could develop. There could be difficulty with the parts of the brains so that things would not be put into long term memory, and it could be trouble with indexing. If the index does not point toward the memory, then there might as well not be any memory. I find that some memories seem to be indexed in odd ways, but it is hard to tell, because the index is not viewable; it certainly would be interesting to see what's in there.
*
I wonder whether one's clarity of memory determines how one perceives time. That is, if one has a clear memory of the past is it deemed to be closer than if one has a dim memory of the past. I also wonder about the size of memories; is there an upper limit on the size of a memory, or are they split, as we used to have to do with files when putting them on floppies. It would be convenient if one could add memories by adding memory RNA, as can be done with some lower animals, but human brains are a little more complicated than that.

I looked up recent research into memory, and it doesn't appear that anything new is out there. It is still uncertain where memories are stored; although it seems that memories are split into different fractions by type, visual, linguistic, etc., but that's been known for some years.

It is thought that things are moved from short term memory to long term memory during sleep, but I don't think that there is any moving. I suspect that it is a matter of indexing, and during sleep the new memories that are deemed worthy are added to the long term index, but nothing is erased. I think that, because sometimes memories of minor events from decades earlier come up, and they are as fresh as if they were laid down last week. But it is very difficult to determine something like this from the inside, and the fMRI does not have the resolution necessary to determine much more than we know.

It is something to follow in the years to come.