Connections
Connections are often made with the human mind, be it from linking memories together, or even associating a word or object with a past memory to remind the person of something they may have forgotten. The mind makes hundreds of connections often, giving ourselves the ability to recall past instances that can be either beneficial or detrimental. The human mind is constantly working in the past, present, and future all the time.
How The Mind Links Memories
Before we can discover why or how the human mind links memories together, we need an understanding of how it works. The human mind works in a way that is similar to how a computer might recall or dismiss tasks from its RAM (random access memory.) The mind pinpoints different areas til it can find the task. Consider it like the brain having its very own map, not unlike our own world map. We have both a longitude and latitude in our memory banks. Once it discovers the location of the past memory, it is able to recall what occured in the past. This the easiest way to understand how the mind is able to draw similarities through its own senses.
Why does the mind seek to draw similarities between memories and what the individual experiences? No one knows for certain. One acceptable theory is that the mind seeks to draw a conclusion and connect pleasant or even unpleasant memories; like a radar does when detecting enemy and friendly aircraft. Another theory might be the mind is in a continual regressive state, wishing to only know things that were bearable from their past, and the mind is attempting to trick our own senses. The debate could go on forever, where the simple thought of memories of a past object or activity becomes fresh in the mind when our senses reintroduce the past event in our mind. ("Nostalgia.")
To complicate this mental mystery is the phenomena of déjà vu, or the feeling of encountering something they have seen in the past. For the so-called déjà vu I correlate two theories. One, being this is an error of the human mind and it does not even exist, or the second theory being it's some sort of prophetic event seen in a dream. However, due to the mind's special way of communicating through dreams to ourselves, this seems unlikely.
Human Mind Transport
Is our mind continually trying to send us into the past with its constant connections and correlations? Perhaps, but for what reason? I don't want it live in the past, and I'm sure you don't want to either. The past is the keeper of our mistakes. Here's something interesting, though. Our mind may be warning us of past mistakes, and to not make them again. A wise man heeds his past mistakes, and seeks to not make the same mistake. This theory harbors many other ideas and conclusions that may come from it, further complicating our attempt to find the answers we seek about the incredible mind, the most valuable asset in our arsenal.
Concluding Thoughts
This article has to given us both critical thought and understanding of at least a few ideas of the mind's memory capabilities and why it recalls events tied into reintroduction to an object, event, person and so forth. It remains up for debate, but I think all of us have become infinitely wiser from this brief study. I encourage you to research your own ideas and thoughts often, for the one who meditates upon the greater mysteries of the universe will find answers; for the truth is inside of us, waiting to be found.
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