Do you think our memories are more reliable than his notes?

I actually took a psychology class about a year ago where we focused largely on the memory capabilities of the human brain, and that really gives me some interesting points for this blog. From what I can remember (funny huh) the human brain actually works in certain ways to protect the person from recalling traumatic memories. The brain can certainly remember a memory accurately, but not allow you to access all components of a particular memory. In a sense, the memory is there but sometimes you may only be able to “view” the good parts. The human brain is capable of essentially purging memories. Which however is not particularly true for every single memory, because there are several cases where one can remember every detail of something they wish to forget. This process works involuntarily, so we do not have the ability to switch this on or off. Having that said, I definitely believe that notes may be more reliable than just memories alone. If notes are taken during or even immediately after an event, I would assume those will last more accurately and longerL than a memory. A great example of this could be when you flip through your old childhood photo albums. You see the photos of you in your childhood home that you can still smell your grandmothers cooking in, but just can’t remember the pattern of the living room curtains, until you look at the baby photos that is. Also consider how drugs play an affect on your memory. Were you on any medication, or drinking alcohol during a specific event? How well and reliable would your memories be then? What if you blacked out, the memories comeback in flashbacks…would you be able to trust those memories?

Do you think Hume would see Leonard’s condition as any different from our own?

Leonard’s condition is that he can recall his memories up until the day his wife was killed, and any new information he learns after that day he quickly forgets. In terms of that, I do not believe Hume would relate his condition to ours. However, I do believe he would argue that the memories he does remember from before the death of his wife give him habits to practice. Leonard being able to recognize his name, could be considered a habit. He is constantly called Leonard, and refers to himself that way, so why would that not be considered a habit? And just in the way we do the same with our names, I suppose that could be a habit as well. If Leonard could recall any hobbies he had or sports he played, and then continued to do those things, we would consider those habits as well. Again, to restate my opinion on the prompt, yes I do believe that he would see his condition differently, but I do believe he would see his previous memories as habits.

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