Which is more important: actual experiences, or the memories that remain when the experiences are over?
441633
Brilliant question!\n\nI was just talking about this with a friend. You have to savor the experience! Ok bear with me here......\n\nHow many times have you looked forward to something...prepared for a big day? Trained for that marathon? Practiced non stop for the big game? Prepared for that huge presentation at work? Readied yourself for the trip overseas? \n\nWhen it is all over.....why do you remember it???? Why is the memory even there? Because of the process we went through to get to that experience will always be instilled in our head. \n\nBut even the memory is not as important as the PROCESS in getting there. Forming the initial idea. Watching it grow from a seed planted in your head to a bud as it starts to thrive and build. Taking that idea and making it real. Attacking the necessary steps to make it happen. Knowing you are aware of those elements around you that are affected and dealing with each and ever obstacle one by one and you encounter it. Taking the leap.....going for it. Not looking back.....forgin onward. So you either fail or succeed. And at times you are lucky enough to feel a bit of both. Lucky you say? You bet!! Because look what happens......you experienced it and learned and then VOILA......the memory enters the picture. \n\nThe memory is the reminder of what success we can draw upon in the future and what failures we must learn from in our past.  Both are important.......But the experience creates the memory. You must have the knowledge, before having the foresight.
942345
In my opinion , this implies the benefit of reflection on ones learning to be that we may not forget. Most of the things we learn from day to day simply become a habit that we could accomplish in our sleep . This is a practice you can see every morning as people commute to work. Some are half asleep and some continuing to get ready for work as they drive a car at top speed. Reflecting or remembering what we have learned reminds us of the other important things in life that we shouldn't forget although we still sometimes forget those as well. As I wrote this answer , a thought came to mind on this subject. The people , places and things that are involved in these learning experiences can be of fond memories and a very nice way to pass the time.......thinking......remembering .......
1081514
You just have to keep in mind that everything has a beginning and an end. No matter what you will always have the memories of what you did and what the two of you shared.
967443
The next time you get deja vu, you know, at that moment you realize you've done this before - try to figure out what will happen next! You can't! But if, as most people think, you've lived the experience before, you should have no problem remembering what is to follow. Here's why you can never remember what will follow. When we experience anything, our brain records it and stores it as a memory. Then that memory is "filed" so that when we recall it, we can determine the sequence of the event, i.e. was this recent, or years ago? When the brain "misfiles' a current event as being something in the past, it recognizes that event and we feel we've experienced it before. But actually, our brain is comparing the current event to itself! That's why we can never follow through with what happens next...because it hasn't happened yet! And that, my friend is deja vu!
55264
Nobody knows for sure. "During the past two decades, however, a few hardy souls have reopened the scientific study of déjà vu. They hope to nail down a persuasive explanation of the phenomenon, as well as shed light on some fundamental elements of memory and cognition. In the new book The Déjà Vu Experience: Essays in Cognitive Psychology (Psychology Press), Alan S. Brown, a professor of psychology at Southern Methodist University, surveys the fledgling subfield. 'What we can try to do is zero in on it from a variety of different angles,' he says. 'It won't be something like, "Boom! The explanation is there." But we can get gradual clarity through some hard work.'\n\nThe four current theories are \n\n1. dual processing\n2. neurological \n3. actual similarity in memories\n4. double perception\n\nTo get more information on these theories, please read the article linked below.
1042163
Memory is of two types. 1)recent memory that is lost with stress alcohol lack of attention etc. 2)remote memory --that is conducive to long lasting rememberance.\nMemory depends upon three factors  a)impression---the total concept, comprehension,and mental picture(we remember things which we understand) b)repetition---(the number of times we read or encounter a concept) and  c)association---relation of one thing to other.\nChilhood events have all these factors.Moreover reception in our brain(mind) can be  compared to a coating of cement.During childhood the cement coat is fresh and the impression is long lasting.
376524
The past shapes what we are today. Good and bad memories both will influence your judgement. Consciously using memories can reduce the risk of prejudices because you are aware of the foundation of your judgements.\n \nGood memories can as well help live through adversity - the knowledge that things can go right. While really bad memories might be hard to shake of - the experience of things going really wrong.
220919
Memory is the ability of the brain to store, retain, and subsequently recall information. Although traditional studies of memory began in the realms of philosophy, the late nineteenth and early twentieth century put memory within the paradigms of cognitive psychology. In the recent decades, it has become one of the principal pillars of a new branch of science that represents a marriage between cognitive psychology and neuroscience, called cognitive neuroscience.\n\nThere are several ways of classifying memories, based on duration, nature and retrieval of information. From an information processing perspective there are three main stages in the formation and retrieval of memory:\n\nEncoding (processing and combining of received information) \nStorage (creation of a permanent record of the encoded information) \nRetrieval/Recall (calling back the stored information in response to some cue for use in some process or activity) \nLong-term memory can be divided into declarative (explicit) and procedural (implicit) memories.\n\nDeclarative memory requires conscious recall, in that some conscious process must call back the information. It is sometimes called explicit memory, since it consists of information that is explicitly stored and retrieved.\n\nDeclarative memory can be further sub-divided into semantic memory, which concerns facts taken independent of context; and episodic memory, which concerns information specific to a particular context, such as a time and place. Semantic memory allows the encoding of abstract knowledge about the world, such as "Paris is the capital of France". Episodic memory, on the other hand, is used for more personal memories, such as the sensations, emotions, and personal associations of a particular place or time. Autobiographical memory - memory for particular events within one's own life - is generally viewed as either equivalent to, or a subset of, episodic memory. Visual memory is part of memory preserving some characteristics of our senses pertaining to visual experience. We are able to place in memory information that resembles objects, places, animals or people in sort of a mental image. Visual memory can result in priming and it is assumed some kind of perceptual representational system or PRS underlies this phenomenon. [1]\n\nVisual memory is a part of memory preserving some characteristics of our senses pertaining to visual experience. We are able to place in memory information that resembles objects, places, animals or people in sort of a mental image. Some authors refer to this experience as an “our mind's eye” through which we can retrieve from our memory a mental image of the original object, place, animal or person.\n\nThe first scientist to give serious consideration to visual imagery was Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) in the field of individual differences. In his research Galton asked his subjects to describe and rate their visual images on vividness. He was able to demonstrate a wide range of clarity, ranging from vivid mental images to none among his test subjects (Galton, 1883).\n\nSince this way of judging mental image has very little scientific objectivity, psychologists devised more objective ways of evaluating mental images, based on how much information can be retrieved from them. Overall, there are not conclusive data that would support any benefits from visual mnemonics (Baddeley, 1976).
176587
I believe emotional age/experience is much more important.  However that being said, if you 'go too far' outside your generation, you can later learn that you didn't have as much in common as you thought.. generational issues can be biggies.. it's to each their own and what they prefer/workout.
832247
Sounds like Déja Vu.\n\nIt has been speculated by some that this results from one side of the brain processing information a split second after the other. Thus, one part of your brain experiences an event, and it is recorded there. Then immediately the other side "experiences" the same thing, and it recognizes it as something that has already happened, because it "remembers" what the other side experienced just previous to this.
790571
Scientists have since determined that the medial temporal lobe is involved in our conscious memory. Within the medial temporal lobe are the parahippocampal gyrus, the rhinal cortex and the amygdala. John D.E. Gabrieli at Stanford University found in 1997 that the hippocampus enables us to consciously recall events. He also found that the parahippocampal gyrus enables us to determine what's familiar and what isn't (and without actually retrieving a specific memory to do it). \n\nWhile about 60 percent of people say they have experienced deja vu, the rates are highest among people between the ages of 15 and 25. The upper age varies among researchers, but most agree that deja vu experiences decrease with age. There have also been higher reported occurrences among those with higher incomes, those who tend to travel more and those with higher education levels. Active imaginations and the ability to recall dreams has also been a commonality among people who report deja vu experiences. \n\nSome researchers also report that the more tired or stressed you are, the more likely you are to experience deja vu. Other researchers, however, have seen just the opposite. They report that the more refreshed and relaxed you are, the more likely you are to experience deja vu. Obviously, the jury is still out about a lot of things related to deja vu. \n\nOne reported finding is that the more open-minded or politically liberal a person is, the more likely they are to experience d fast vu. However, this may also mean that the more open-minded you are, the more likely you are to talk about something potentially seen as "weird," like deja vu. \n\nSo, that hamster thing that you think is a weird recollection of maybe a past life or something of yours, think again? Maybe you have dreamed something of same exact thing and was able to retain it in your mind. Either way, it is weird though. Well goodluck buddy!
219204
very much. how u are brought up and what u are exposed to has a direct effect on your decision making process as your decision making will also be based on your real life experiences
737842
Quite.  Deja vu is a simple case of the brain storing information in the long term memory AND the short term (or working) memory simultaneously.  \n\nWe have two parts of the brain dedicated to memory: long term and short term memory.  Short term memory lasts for about only 30 seconds, while long term memory can last a lifetime.  Normally, information is first allocated to short term memory and then through association or repetition, it is transfered to long term memory.\n\nBut once and a while, the brain will simultaneously allocate a piece of information to both long and short term memory.  Since it's still in our working memory, it's fresh on our minds, but we also feel like it's something we've experienced a while ago also.  That is because we are also "retreiving" this information from our long term memory even though the thing just happened.
405667
life = to live and experience
1087949
Yes, it's for real. \n\nI recently remembered a month ago my first past life recall. I remembered living in India as a woman from another country. I had studied many religions and spirituality. I ended up chosing Hinduism as my religion to study seriously on my spiritual path.\n\nWhile living in India, I studied under a woman guru named Parvati. I remembered this temple that had this giant monkey statue on the outside.\n\nI had to leave the ashram for a couple of days, Parvati was asking me some medicine-related questions if I was prepared and had them.\n\nOn the way travelling, I got horribly sick with a dreadful disease. It was smallpox. My entire body was mummified. A man carried me to the doctor's. It was not modern at all. Kind of primative. This was during WWI. He poured water on my body that was wrapped up in white cloth, I screamed like bloody h*ll. Blood seeped through the cloth. I was above watching the whole thing.\n\nI did not feel anything, but I felt a lot of compassion for my past self and for the horrible suffering she was going through. I felt it was so unnecessary. They also put me against the wall to circulate my blood. My eyes were covered up too. Parvati, my guru, came to visit me as she was given word that I was dying.\n\nMy last words spoken were "Brahman of all things". I had my mind focused on God when I died which is very important for your next life.\n\nThis life, I'm just a white girl from CA but I ended up feeling at home with Hinduism after studying spiritualy and religions for 17 years. I am picking up where I left off. Amma is now my Satguru in this life. She is helping me finish my journey to God-Realization in this life. I do eventually want to live the rest of my life in India in her ashram. This past life recall helped me understand who I am in this life by explaining how I ended up on this journey and plus that disease helped wipe clean some bad karma as I hardly have any more bad karma to deal with this life. It was quite insightful.\n\nThere is a very interesting site http://www.johnadams.net This guy Walter Semkiv, M.D. had some some research on many cases of past lives and wrote a book called "Return of the Revolutionaries" which I have read. It is fascinating to read and there were many stories of how people can to find out who they are in their past life and became shocked at how identical the looked like in their former life. It is a known fact that our Soul would retain very similiar facial features life after life. There are many examples on that website. Take a look!\n\nI also wrote two posts about past lives on my 360 blog, the first about the above recall and the second about how people look like their past lives:\n\nhttp://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-O50H77Iib6fVzcbXCb1eO_cIAk0-?cq=1&l=46&u=50&mx=111&lmt=5&p=263\n\nhttp://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-O50H77Iib6fVzcbXCb1eO_cIAk0-?cq=1&l=21&u=25&mx=111&lmt=5&p=356
5277
Tell the future? don't think so but the best way to know where your going in life is to pay attention.\nGo back to the past? don't think so, but the best way to simulate that, is a memory
1080186
The experience of it.\n\nI know this because I have experienced it.\n\nHaven't you?