Fig 1. jellybean man I (author's own)
Fig 2. jellybean man II (author's own)
Fig 3. jellybean man III (author's own)
Since we're on the topic of memory, I thought these questions asked by the 'jellybean men' as I like to call them, would be relevant to look at. The jellybean man in Fig 1 is holding up a card with the question, 'What makes you special?'. Although I think the topics explored around that question are DNA, cells, chromosomes, etc. we could think about it in different ways too, and an obvious example would be 'your personality'. Yes, everyone is made up of different cells, each cell different from the other, and put together it makes you, you. But the jellybean man in Fig 3 asks, 'what is your first memory?' and here you remember that we are not just mechanical beings (technically speaking we are), but we just don't feel like we are! This is partly because of the memories we store, these include experiences and emotions. I also read the following at the museum, 'You are the sum of your experiences: your memory fashions your identity. Each memory you have is held within the changing network of nerve cells in your brain. Sometimes, tragically you cannot remember. Sometimes the tragedy is that you cannot forget. Science examines the making of memory, and its loss'.
So what is your first memory? Something that was your first memory four years ago could be lost, therefore altering your first memory. Would this make you a different person to who you were four years ago if you now can't remember fighting over a Barbie doll with your sister when you were three years old? If a ship's parts were changed over the years, until eventually all of the original parts are replaced, would that ship, let's name it 'Harbour' still be the same 'Harbour' that started off in 1952? If not, then why would we not apply this analogy to human beings as their memory retreats? My first memory was when my uncle's family visited us from Cyprus and one day when we went to Trafalgar square, my cousin who was the same age as me (two and a half) was allowed to jump from the lion statues and play around there, while I was not! Although now the story makes me laugh, at the time the anger and jealousy was felt strongly, this is probably why I still remember that day although I was so young. When an experience involves strong emotions, it tends to remain in your long-term memory. And I am sure that it is not one of those memories where someone tells you the story, and you forget they told you, therefore you end up thinking that it's actually your memory and not theirs, because no one else knew about the situation, but me... unless they forgot about telling me. We live in a world of uncertainties, but the same way we don't want to accept the idea that we are biological robots, we also don't like accepting the thought that nothing is certain! Even the memories we were so sure about.
Lastly, the jellybean man in Fig 2 asks us the question, 'What's inside your head?' Our automatic reply would be 'our mind!'. Is this the same as saying 'our brain'? It seems as if the two defer from each other, as 'the mind' is just an expression for where your thought processes take place, more of a non-physical concept, whilst 'the brain' is the physical organ itself. If this is how most people think of it, then why would we place this non-physical 'thing' in which we call 'the mind' in our heads? The brain is a complicated organ, and the only answer I can come up with to go about answering this riddle is; 'the mind and the brain are the SAME thing, therefore, both physical, both fulfil the same processes, the words 'brain' and 'mind' are just used interchangeably by people'.
So what is your first memory? Something that was your first memory four years ago could be lost, therefore altering your first memory. Would this make you a different person to who you were four years ago if you now can't remember fighting over a Barbie doll with your sister when you were three years old? If a ship's parts were changed over the years, until eventually all of the original parts are replaced, would that ship, let's name it 'Harbour' still be the same 'Harbour' that started off in 1952? If not, then why would we not apply this analogy to human beings as their memory retreats? My first memory was when my uncle's family visited us from Cyprus and one day when we went to Trafalgar square, my cousin who was the same age as me (two and a half) was allowed to jump from the lion statues and play around there, while I was not! Although now the story makes me laugh, at the time the anger and jealousy was felt strongly, this is probably why I still remember that day although I was so young. When an experience involves strong emotions, it tends to remain in your long-term memory. And I am sure that it is not one of those memories where someone tells you the story, and you forget they told you, therefore you end up thinking that it's actually your memory and not theirs, because no one else knew about the situation, but me... unless they forgot about telling me. We live in a world of uncertainties, but the same way we don't want to accept the idea that we are biological robots, we also don't like accepting the thought that nothing is certain! Even the memories we were so sure about.
Lastly, the jellybean man in Fig 2 asks us the question, 'What's inside your head?' Our automatic reply would be 'our mind!'. Is this the same as saying 'our brain'? It seems as if the two defer from each other, as 'the mind' is just an expression for where your thought processes take place, more of a non-physical concept, whilst 'the brain' is the physical organ itself. If this is how most people think of it, then why would we place this non-physical 'thing' in which we call 'the mind' in our heads? The brain is a complicated organ, and the only answer I can come up with to go about answering this riddle is; 'the mind and the brain are the SAME thing, therefore, both physical, both fulfil the same processes, the words 'brain' and 'mind' are just used interchangeably by people'.
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