Introduction: First Thoughts

   

I'm Daniel, and this is the first post of the "What's Memory" blog. To briefly introduce myself, I'm a typical suburban high school student who constantly feels bogged down by heaps of schoolwork, exams, and a handful of meaningful but time-consuming after-school activities. And, I'm certain that most of my classmates experience a similar frenzy of emotions related to the stress accompanying the busy high school years. In fact, we all seem to have identical daily routines: wake up, go to school, do extracurricular activities, come home, procrastinate, do homework, sleep (if possible). If asked, any person would describe us as robots.

As a senior, I'm beginning to write my college essays, and the most prominent piece of advice that I hear is, "If you want to distinguish yourself from other applicants, then just write about who you are because there's no one else in the whole world who's exactly like you." This always reminds me of one of Paul's—from the Bible—most famous teachings: every human being has a unique set of talents, experiences, opinions, and thus, an irreplaceable role to play in the world. As much as I believe in the truth of Paul's spiritual conviction, I sometimes question whether I'm truly different from the millions of "Daniels" out there, let alone the global population of more than seven billion. 

In the context of the college application process, I bet that there's at least one other applicant who plays the violin, studies hard, and cares about raising awareness of global human rights issues--all characteristics that I have. Colleges claim that the essays allow them to see the purely personal side of an applicant, but cliché topics are heavily used and thus defeat the essays' purpose.

So, am I actually different from everyone else? 

In order to answer such a question, one very intriguing concept that I believe posits that every human being is fundamentally unique persuasively is memory. Memories work in this respect because they are created from an individual mind's ability to capriciously store and remember information. Without our conscious approval, our minds filter out random (scientists aren't entirely sure) bits of information to hold on to from any kind of experience. As far as we know, no two people have the same exact memories because our minds are influenced by innumerable factors—such as the environment in which the experience took place and our emotions—that are almost impossible to match up perfectly. In a world increasingly defined by conformity, urban sprawl, and standardization, I believe that we need to emphasize the efficacy of memory in preserving individuality not only because one's memories belong only to that particular person, but also because the communication of memory is a uniquely human experience that we can all connect to and develop from. 

I’m neither a neuroscientist nor a psychologist, but I still want to understand what memory is and how it plays in our social development and actions. I believe that it’d be an interesting thought experiment to view the world with memory as a medium. In accordance to the chart above, I will explore both individual and collective memory, how my actions and penchants are influenced by previous experiences and how the path that a society or culture takes is directed by its history. For example, I may discuss how the United States’ reluctance to deploy cruise missiles in Syria in retaliation to President Assad’s use of chemical weapons may be influenced by the nation’s memory of the devastating wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were supposed to be quick and decisive. Memory is a nebulous idea, but I hope that this blog will at least shed some light on how important it is in our lives.