Modernity, It Means No Memories

One of the most interesting scientific factoids that hardly any knows about is that there is no actual evidence that memories are stored in the brain. This has been known since the 1950s when scientists were unable to locate specific memories in the brains of frogs and rats. They were unable to remove a section of cortex and erase the memory, but they found that removing any area of cortex caused the memory to weaken. Remove half the brain, and the strength of the memory (some trained behavior) was weakened by half.

As usual, Big Science has refused to let experimental evidence challenge any assumptions provided by the philosophy of materialism. Instead, they issue yet another promissory note that one day evidence will be found the explains the mystery while keeping the assumptions of their particular religious beliefs intact. The most compelling explanation given was the comparison of brain memories to holograms, which function similarly in that removing a portion of the holographic medium dims the image rather than deleting a corresponding section of it. The holonomic brain theory, as it came to be called, inspired other theories such as holographic data storage and even a holographic theory of the universe. None have born success, and all seem to be dead pursuits.

The other explanation is that memories are not stored in the brain. If so, then the cortex acts more like an antenna than a hard drive, the brain a transponder more than a computer. Removing portions of the brain is then analogous to reducing bandwidth to read/write from an external source. If that is so, then memory starts to look less like data storage and more akin to the human spirit or soul - concepts understood by practitioners of all religions except materialism. While the theory may fall just short of scientific - I'm not sure how it would be experimentally disproven - it does open up some avenues for speculation and insights. Foremost is the implication that memory and spirit are ultimately the same thing. The failure of materialism in all domains results from a lack or misunderstanding of memory.

Alzheimer's disease primarily affects a person's ability to store and recall memories. When someone with late-stage Alzheimer's dies, it's common to here people say things like, "really she's been gone for a quite a while now." Spouses of late-stage Alzheimer's patients begin to see their caregiving as little more than keeping a warm body alive, an empty vessel that occasionally flickers with a hint of the life that used to reside there. It is not directly a fatal disease, but as memory fades, the will to live fades as well, and the body soon follows.

Alcoholism is a similar disease. We drink to forget, and alcoholics want to forget all the time. It is self-inflicted Alzheimer's, in a way. They and addicts of hard drugs end up as mere shells of their former selves. Like Alzheimer's patients, families usually express some degree of relief when they finally pass. They see their loved one as having been mostly gone already. Recovered alcoholics suffer from wet brain and realize that they are not as sharp or lively as they were before they began poisoning themselves. Even marijuana users fall into this category. Once high, they experience heightened sensual stimulation, becoming fixated on external inputs like movies, music, and food. Temporal reasoning is washed out by a strong sense of living in the moment. Indeed, pot smokers are notorious for their poor memories and lack of long-term planning. There was an old joke done by the Simpsons where the city referendum to legalize marijuana failed because all the stoners forgot to go to the ballots.

Without memory there is no life. A counterexample given might be that computers have memories, and are lifeless. But they don't really have memory like we do. They have only a physical state that resides in the material present. Early computers stored data on punch cards. There's no reason we couldn't do that today with modern computers; we choose not to for convenience, cost, etc. I don't think many would claim that the rich lived experiences that humans have access to is in any way equivalent to a stack of paper with various holes punched in it. Computers do not have a spiritual memory any more than a hammer does. Both are tools created by man. On the other hand, even the most minor forms of life must have memory, as we have debunked the theory of biological materialism on this blog already.

If there can be no life without memory, then materialism truly is a death cult. Whatever materialism touches, dies. Suicide and drug overdoses (same thing) are rampant. Entire nations have lost the will to live and are being willfully invaded. Scientific progress has flatlined. Hollywood stopped making meaningful movies and the media stopped doing journalism. Google, once opposed to evil, now shapes narratives of the past in response to current events, as was predicted by Orwell. They want to tell us what the changing past was. The left rally to support abortion - little more than child sacrifices made before the pagan altar of materialism. Even conservatism is dead! The notion that all questions of politics and morality can be reduced to economic equations and what Z calls Process Conservatism was overturned by Trump's appeals to nationalism.

Under materialism, there is only the present...only life in the moment. The past is merely a narrative crafted to justify the present, the future a promise made to instill hope in a world without a will to live. It's no coincidence that Barrack Obama's campaign slogan was simply HOPE. It's also no coincidence that he told Americans, "You didn't build that." In materialism, there is no past. There is only the present. Traditionalism is the memory of what works, while materialism rejects it and calls itself Progressivism. We must progress forward and forget the past. Eyes shut. Hope. Nationalism is the memory of who we are and is now the great threat to the neoliberal order because people with a sense of identity, of pride, of purpose, cannot be easily controlled. We know that, because materialism destroys the will to live, it eventually falters. All we have to do, really, is maintain our sense of who we are, speak truth in the face of The Lie, and know that eventually the Life Cults must win out.

Now would be a good time, for those who have young children, to re-watch the Lion King with them. It is the perfect tale of reclaiming the past. Mufasa, the wise father, teaches his son of the great cycles of life and the role he must play to maintain the order of things. Evil forces drive Simba away from his father and he enters the realm of Hakuna Matata. It means no worries, thus it means no memories. No concern for the past, no concern for the future. He eats when he's hungry and does little else. After an intimate encounter with Nala, he is forced to look again towards ensuring future order (as starting a family can do to listless, cynical young men). In one of the most powerful scenes ever produced, Simba finally remembers his past, and what he must do secure the future. Suddenly, his will of life is restored. He re-imposes the order of his father, and the desolate landscape becomes life-bearing again.