Memory

Computer memory is cheaper and more plentiful each year. Consquently, it would already be quite feasible for me to store as simple text, every word I have ever written or read. In fact with a few gigabytes I could store every sound I hear or make for the next one hundred years. Within ten years I will likely be able to store all that I have read, written, seen , and heard on a thumb drive. A little camera/microphone disguised as a freckle could send the data straight to a storage chip nestled behind my ear.

Given the opportunity to review all I have seen or heard in a lifetime, what would I review first? What would I assiduously avoid? How different would it seem from the vantage of my current age and experience?

A blog can be my choice to record a small sample of what I have seen or heard. I can also include thoughts and feelings that would not be captured by my little camera/microphone. What shall I choose to record? How much will I ever review? What may I wish I had recorded that is already buried among a vast number of synapses. Buried so deep that I may never again conciously realize that I had known it.

How much time shall I spend scrolling through my own record and the record of others? Every hour spent on this seems to diminish the time I have available for other, "all new" experiences. Yet, there is merit in recalling the past. We are very sorry when we meet someone who has lost the capacity to make new memories. If they had never made any memories at all, how could we even relate to them? If I had no memories whatsoever, would I even be me?