Things to Remember in September: The Protection of Recollection

Have you ever walked into a room and forgot why you entered it? Have you ever forgot how to spell a simple word like, was or is? Have you ever picked up the phone to call someone and forgot who you were about to call? If you answered no to any of those questions, count yourself lucky. If you answered yes, welcome to the battle for recollection. Recollection refers to the mental process of retrieving information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it is one of the three core processes of memory.

Memory is the faculty of the brain by which data or information is encoded, stored, or retrieved when needed. The information that our memory allows us to retain influences our actions. It is our memory that keeps us from getting burned because, somewhere along the way, we recalled fire causes pain and injury. If past events could not be remembered, it would be impossible for language, relationships, or personal identity to develop.

As we enter into the last trimester of this year, I am having to remind myself of who I am. It may sound strange but, some of us have to remind ourselves of such things. As new information and revelations come about to challenge our old ideas, there is inevitability going to be a shift in behavior and belief. With all the information daily entering our psyche, you almost have to be a detective and a therapist, not to lose oneself in the blur of phases, fake news, and sad occurrences. Many are finding themselves traveling into the inner realms of their consciousness to redefine what is their truth.

Memory is not a perfect processor and is affected by many factors, including emotions. The ways by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved can all be corrupted. This can easily disrupt the clear conciseness of a belief system. An excessive amount of incoming anything, can overwhelm and overtake a system. There are so many non-fictional examples I could give but, the best one I can think of is, the 1998 science fiction film “Dark City”.

For those of you that have not seen “Dark City” here is the condensed version. John Murdoch awakens in a hotel bathtub, suffering from memory loss with the corpse of a ritualistically murdered woman in the room with him. He flees the scene, just as a group of pale men identified as "the Strangers" arrive. Murdoch learns he is sought by police as a suspect in a series of murders, though he cannot remember killing anybody. The Strangers possess a power called "tuning": the ability to alter reality at will.

While being pursued by the Strangers and the police, Murdoch discovers that he has the same psychokinetic ability. He manages to use his powers to escape.

Once away from his pursuers, he begins to notice more strange things. First, he recognizes it is always night. Next, he learns that he came from a coastal town called Shell Beach: however, all of his attempts to go there are unsuccessful for varying reasons. Most importantly, he watches as everyone except himself falls asleep at midnight.

At the stroke of midnight, the Strangers physically rearrange the city as well as changing people's identities and memories. Through a series of unfortunate events, Murdoch discovers, the Strangers experiment with humans to analyze their individuality in the hopes that it will save their race. The Strangers are of hive mind. When you have a hive mind you operate with the benefit of collective intelligence and the detriment of unopposed conformity.

Any scientist will tell you variety is not only the spice of life; it is quite literally the source of it. Murdoch like everyone else in “Dark City was essentially a lab rat. He had no idea who he was because, it was changed periodically. However, when the Strangers tried to imprint him with the identity of a murderer, he woke up. In that instance, he might not have known who he was, but he remembered who he was not.

Murdoch’s whole existence resided in his implanted memories. But when you think about it, isn’t that true in the real world as well. Ultimately, we are all just downloaded memories that will one day be uploaded. This year has taught me no matter the circumstances, it is in my best interest to always remember what I have already survived, conquered, and endured. Or as I like to say, remember the protection of my recollection.