This document presents a hypothesis that external memory created by social networking sites and digital recording may have negative consequences for personal and professional advancement. It discusses the different types of human memory and how digitization has revolutionized external memory by making all copies indistinguishable from the original. It also explores the challenges presented by the demise of forgetting, such as issues with power, accessibility, durability and comprehensiveness of memories over time. Potential solutions discussed include creating coping mechanisms to deal with unforgettable memories.
1. Title page (last week it was Eternal Memory but I’m not sure that is the best)
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3. What is Human Memory? mem•o•ry (mm-r) n. pl. mem•o•ries the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information Oxford Dictionary
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Notas del editor
The high level of detail with which sites like Facebook record events interferes with our natural ability to forget, suggesting that a need exists for digital forgetfulness. In contrast to widely accepted notions of the desirability for legacy through photographic and text-based documentation, being able to quickly surpass every detail of a difficult experience, can be ultimately advisable for personal and social betterment. Understanding the role of human memory in personal development might provide an explanation for how digital archiving hinders the natural process of letting go. This in turn could lead to a solution that would restore the ability to forget every detail of past experiences.
Sensory Memory: Information recalled through the senses. Lasts a few seconds Short Term Memory (STM): System that transfers information in our sensory memory to our consciousness. This is active information that lasts up to 30 seconds. Reading this slide is an example of STM. Working Memory : Is the process that occurs when focus on material lasts longer than STM will allow. An example of this would be memorizing a phone number Displacement: When new information pushes out old information stored in STM. For instance, you ask for the area code and then instantly forget the last two digits of the number you had previously memorized Long Term memory (LTM) : Declarative Memory : Memory that we consciously access Semantic Memory: Generic facts; Florence is a city in Italy Episodic Memory: Autobiographical memories; I lived in Florence for 4 months during college. Implicit (or Procedural) Memory: Automatic memory that has been stored due to excessive practice or habit; ie. Brushing your teeth
We think of external memory these days in terms of technology, since it is the name given to portable devices used for storing information. However external memory has been around for more than 30,000 years.
Up until digitization, information was in analog format, meaning it was stored as an exact rendition of the original format. The problem with analog is that every time it is copied, random variations or noise are added to the original information. A perfect example of this is tape cassettes. I can remember copying a copy of my friend’s cassette and being disappointed by the muffled quality of sound. And when I tried to copy that copy, I introduced more noise, resulting in an incomprehensible sound. Digitization differs because this noise is avoided, which means that quality is not affected with each copy. The 100th digital copy of a photo is an exact replica of the original.
Digitization ( maybe discuss example of girl who gets even with meme generator? Original copy lives on in remixed format.) Cheap storage- example of digital photos p. 68. “Assuming it takes only three seconds for a person to look at an image and decide whether to preserve it or not, and that she values her own time at a current average wage, the ‘cost’ of the time alone that ti takes to decide exceeds the cost of storage.” Easy retrieval- we don’t have to read page by page of a book to find information anymore. We can simply type keywords into a search engine like Google. As a result, findings are decontextualized Global Reach- once information is shared in the digital world, one loses control over it because, unlike analog format, the information does not degrade with each copy made. Each interaction made can be shared with other, who then share it with others..and so on. SIMPLIFY THIS STUFF in layman’s terms!
As INDIVIDUALS we forget so that we can prioritize We forget because “…We are meant to forget. Why? Well, because the primary function of an organism is always to survive and if I can’t prioritize what I need to remember, then I’m taken up with all kinds of extraneous details, I can’t attend to you, I’m not able to connect, and I fail as an organism.”-Dr. Devi from Martha Weinman Lear’’s book Where Did I Leave My Glasses?, p.32 “ Forgetting plays a central role in human decision-making. It lets us act in time, cognizant of, but not shackled by, past events. Through perfect memory we may lose a fundamental human capacity--to live and act firmly in the present.” -from Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, p. 12 As a SOCIETY we forget so that we can redeem ourselves “… societal forgetting gives indivduals who have failed a second chance….Through…societal forgetting, of erasing external memories, our society accepts that human beings evolve over time, that we have the capacity to learn from past experiences and adjust our behavior.” -from Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, p. 13 DEQUOTE THIS STUFF!!!
Power “..people have long understood that the power of information is derived from the ability to control access to it” -Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye (p.98) Accessibility: author makes the point that we are willing to share information with others in a particular context and for a particular purpose. “This works well when information is stored in separate disconnected containers” (p.101). However, with cheap storage, easy retrieval and global reach, people have the ability to gather, access and spread information about us. Sites like Spokeo pool together all of our information from online sites we use, like Facebook and Amazon, to create a thorough profile about us, including where we live, who our family members are, what our relationship status is and how much money we make. Durability : Google remembers billions of search queries every day. And as was the case with Jack Wepple, it takes a lot of effort, time and money to have whatever information you put out there removed Comprehensiveness : Maintaining at least some control over my own information gives me the space I need to define myself (p. 108). If everyone has unlimited access to me through digital remembering, I’m going to self-censor myself for fear of how it might affect me down the road. Professor of Psychology at Harvard Daniel Schacter believes that the past we remember is constantly evolving by the influence of who we are in the present. The past captured in digital memory is frozen in time, thereby denyingus the ability to “recontstrct” one’s personal history” (p. 108) Time ** I haven’t gotten to this part yet SIMPLIFY THIS SHIT!
While Mayer-Schonbeger makes a strong case for the importance of forgetting, Gordon Bell highlights the positives of remembering with such detail. Bell is a writer and principal researcher at Microsoft who uses a sense camera around his neck to snap photos of people he meets. He’s scanned and catalogued his entire life for more than ten years. In his book, Total Recall: How the E-Memory Revolution Will Change Everything, he gives example after example of how his life logging program MyLifeBits has been a positive tool in aiding his memory. And there are many notable positives. Digital memory helps
According to Martha there is a difference between how women and men remember. While this is by no means proven, the interviews I have conducted regarding Facebook usage has led me to believe that Give example regarding survey conducted on Facebook use. Gender differences regarding Facebook –this makes me nervous….
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