Category: Memory

Forgetting Amnesia

David Dempsey

According to Wikipedia, there are two types anterograde and retrograde amnesia, and many different sub types. Basically you either can’t make new memories, or you can’t remember a particular event or series of events.

Based on our theoretical brain model, every human is capable of making new memories at any time, so what is stopping some people?

For starters, what are the main causes of memory loss?

  1. Sleep Apnea
  2. Stroke
  3. Medications
  4. Nutritional Deficiency
  5. Stress, Anxiety, Depression

Less Common Causes

  1. Head Trauma
  2. Infection
  3. Tumors
  4. Substance abuse

Can we neatly tie all of these together? Yes. Each of these is either a cause or a symptom of brain entropy. Mental strain.  If that sounds ridiculous to you, you have a lot of reading to do. I haven’t even written my posts about strokes and sleep apnea, but I’ll link them back when I finish them. 

So if you are out of your ground state, your memory is worse. Not only your recall of past events but also your process of making new memories.

Think about it, in retrograde amnesia, the subject was in a very stressful situation for a period of time, but now their brain works fine. In anterograde amnesia, the same mental stress is currently acting on the subject preventing them from accumulating new memories. So the only question is: is the stress gone yet? 

To those suffering memory loss, what did you have for breakfast yesterday? What did you do in the past five minutes? Hone in on the gaps in your memory and see if you can identify the stresses that are causing them at any given point. 

  1. https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/5-surprising-causes-memory-loss/
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia

 

Rethinking IQs

David Dempsey

Your IQ doesn’t matter. Not in the way you’re thinking, at least. They are important to help determine the state of the mind, at least, but they shouldn’t determine who your friends are or what you think of yourself. 

IQs change over time. No one is going to argue with this statement. The question is why, and is it reversible?

What should your IQ mean to you?

It should show you how well your brain in optimized for your life, at the current moment. There are much easier ways to test this without wasting thirty minutes on a computer, but do what you need to do.

Your IQ is about as important as your blood pressure. If it’s low, you’re doing something wrong. But it’s only a snapshot of your state of mind at this moment.

You have the capability of being a genius. You probably don’t use your mind right. You can change that though. You decide how your mind operates.

So how can you optimize your brain?

  1. Learn how to see without glasses.
  2. Remove your filters.
  3. Question your fears.
  4. Debug your logic daily.

How do you know if it’s working?

Apart from eyesight, memory is the easiest way to test. Think about what you ate for breakfast yesterday. When I first started this, I’d really struggle. Now I can tell you exactly what I ate, who was there, what they were wearing, and what was on TV. It’s all about the details.

Test your memory a couple times per day. Try to hone in on what changed in between the tests. Why did I remember so much more clearly right before bed than I did at after lunch? We’re you stressed about something? Could it have been something you ate? Was your blood sugar high or low? Did you just get done working out?

Find your sweet spot and repeat the loop until you’re satisfied with the results. You deserve a brain that’s fully optimized for your life. Just be sure to send me a thank you note with some of your new free time. 

 

 

How’s your memory?

David Dempsey

What do we know about memory? We have practically unlimited memory, but seem to have trouble accessing it. If we use the same brain model, we have to assume that the brain is doing nothing wrong. Our recall or imprint ability may be hindered by some outside forces at play.

There’s a correlation between vision and cognitive function in the elderly. Here’s a study that compares vision to cognitive function in the elderly. Think about how this applies to Alzheimer’s. Refractive errors cloud memories.

If we improve eyesight, does memory improve as well? My memory is getting better with my vision. I can tell you that. Although I have know way of quantifying it at this point. So just count me in for another theory. Think about it though: if the brain is really just a perfect computer, and eyesight is a symptom of mental strain, would it be so unreasonable to suggested that it effected our memory recall as well?

Emotional intensity can help prioritize memories. Think about that bad break up or the funeral of a loved one. Think about where you were during the 911 attacks. Some events can be “buried” in your memory just the same.

Clarity of memories does not depend on the time since the event was experienced. Think about your clearest memories. It’s not just yesterday. There’s also that time when you were twenty-one, and your birthday…way back when.

What is the nature of memory? If there is no such thing as time, how does memory work? We can recall large amounts of information from all over our lives with relative ease. What’s the difference between long-term and short-term memory? Can you have one and not the other?

Short term memory is really just recall after 15-30 seconds. Long term memory is really what we call memory. Here’s another big simplification: there’s no short term memory. If we’re ignoring time [and I am] then they are the same anyways. 

False confessions have figured into 24% of the 289 cases overturned by DNA evidence. We know that memory is infamously unreliable in court cases. Witnesses just don’t always seem to get it right. False confessions may have other variables at play, but memory plays a role. If you clearly remember not committing a crime, why would you ever confess to doing it? This article says that people who are mentally ill are more susceptible to these false confessions.

Not all memory fades with age. This article basically says that there are different types of memory, and older people still have access to some of them. For instance, they can remember a name and a not a face or vice versa. I’d like to challenge this approach with the theory that memory is absolute. Recalling all you know about a given event or person would be your baseline. Anything less than that would be distortion.

So what are my takeaways here? Your memory can be improved, just like your eyesight. We know now why the elderly have problems seeing, and it effects their memory as well. So take back your sight, and take back your mind, and take back your memory.