Making memories w/o an "I"? Functioning better w/o (some) memory

Q.  You said in an earlier blog that you had little interest in memory, although you clearly talk about many things that occurred in the past, and about topics that are "in" your memory as well as your use of language.  As I am still in the workplace, memory is important for me.  How do you make memories without a self?  How do you function in the workplace and the world without memory? 

Old What's His Name

G.  There are three different aspects of memory, 

  

        a)   encoding - receiving, processing information

        b)   storage - creation of short or long term version of information

        c)   retrieval - recovery of information 


and there are many different types of memory.

we am not generally aware of "doing" these different aspects and processes.  Typically,  these processes go on in an "automatic" fashion unless some attention is focused on certain items.  

The memory used in "work" is "declarative" or "semantic" memory.  It is consciously encoded and stored, and is likely recalled consciously, although often somewhat imperfectly as described in earlier blogs. The "semantic" part is that these items are independent of  context such as time, place, or personal involvement.  As the "self" plays no role in this, there is no problem with storing or using this type of information w/o an "I".  

Declarative memory is critical for performing many functions.  Since "the page turned", i was the Vice Chair of BOT of a regional medical center,  Assoc. V.P. of Research for a major university and continue to work/speak with/at universities, conferences and companies in what most regard as very complex roles.  Successful functioning in these roles requires that all sorts of facts, figures, plans, organizations, technical information, etc. be "remembered" accurately in a timely fashion.  IME, declarative memory is enhanced without an ongoing narrative competing with encoding, storage and recall.


Even memory which seems to involve an "I" may not necessarily do so.  "How do I get to I-95?", "I know your name.", or "Where do I find the posterior cingulate cortex?" really do not involve the "I" as an emotionally-invested entity.  Given the nature of subject/object based language, there is an apparent subject in such questions, but only as an artifact of language.  "Get to I-95?" or "Where posterior cingulate cortex?" would work functionally, but it doesn't "make it" for real communications.

There is also "episodic" or "autobiographical" memory, that IS "personal", with emotions, sensations, and personal involvement about, and concerned with an "I" or self, and "what's going to happen to me?".  Autobiographical memory is unlikely to be stored if there is little/no "I" or self to be concerned about it.  Episodic memory feeds the emotionally-engaged obsessive narrative and story-building of "I can't believe she said that about me.", "How could he do that?", etc. Autobiographical memory causes much of our stress, gobbles up great chunks of our "available bandwidth" and energy and is often stored "unconsciously".  In general, the more emotionally-charged an experience is, the better it is remembered, due to the "memory enhancement effect".  Watch your own experience with this.

Adyashanti

"i" have little episodic or autobiographical memory.  It is not something that is missed, nor that causes any significant functional impairment; on the contrary, it is wonderful to not have it around.  Adyasdhanti, the well-known Zen teacher, has said that he never remembers what he has told someone, or who he has told it to.  


BTW, strongly recommend folk c/o out his work.  His teachings were useful for "me" when i was having "strange" experiences which no one had reported.  When Adya described them, at least there was one other person that was "crazy" in the same ways. 

There is also "procedural" or "implicit" memory which involves learning and "perfecting" motor skills like playing saxophone, rock climbing, playing video games, etc.  This is no real conscious recall of information, but instead the skills improve with repetition.  There are no explicit memories formed, but one "unconsciously" accesses aspects of previous experiences in performing the skill.  This depends on the cerebellum and basal ganglia.  

Performance of skills is also enhanced without a self-based, emotional, narrative interfering; it is vital in some skills.  The Japanese samurai incorporated Zen primarily to improve performance in disciplines like kendo, or sword fighting.  It is "non-productive" to be obsessing about the geisha, fine meal and saki that await while engaged in a sword fight.  


Another type of memory is "topographical" which concerns recognizing places, following an itinerary and knowing where one is physically.  IME, these are also enhanced without ongoing discursive narrative adding emotionally-charged content to confusing situations.  Recall the last time you were "lost"; weren't you "distracted" at some point in that adventure? 


Memory can also be grouped by duration.  


      a) There is "sensory" memory lasting from 200 - 500 milliseconds after we perceive a sensation. 
      b) "Short term" memory lasts for a few seconds to a minute or so.  Short term memory was shown to be limited to remembering only 7 +/- 2 discrete items in landmark work. This limitation is why we "chunk" chains of information into smaller bits to remember things like phone numbers (3,3,4).  Short term memory is generally regarded as being done "acoustically" with some "visual" assistance - see for yourself how you do it.  This type of storage is done in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe.


IME, short term memory is generally enhanced w/o an ongoing narrative to interfere with the process.  

    c) Long term memory is capable of longer storage and much larger quantities of information.  In contrast to acoustic encoding of short term memory, long term memory is encoded semantically in more stable and potentially "permanent" neuronal structures scattered throughout the brain.  The hippocampus is "memory storage switching and dispatching central" and is key to consolidating short-term information to long term storage, but does not store the information itself.  Much work has shown that a primary function of sleeping is to allow the consolidation of memory.  Some studies have shown that the brain actually mirrors activation patterns for tasks learned during the day during sleeping suggesting that this rehearsal is consolidating the learning. 

So, in summary, w/o an "I", all forms of memory, as well as functional capacity are enhanced, IME, except the emotionally-encoded autobiographical memory which is at the root of our self-referential, on-going, wandering-mind, narrative, the loss of which i have found to be the best thing that ever happened.