In spite of some of the wildest things I have considered could be true in this strange world, my inner skeptic does not swallow every story that comes down the pike. In fact, most of them are assumed to be a bunch of crap. But some things do ring true for me. I can't always understand why. My idealistic nature tolerates an equally strong inner skeptic who pretty much doubts everything except that we exist.

What I find interesting is that there are ways to reaccess childhood memories through various methods. Some experts use hypnotizing methods and others such as psychologists have other methods, and just recently when I meditate, I have also remembered some visual memories from the past that I thought I would never remember again.

Which leaves the question if we actually can remember everything in reality or if the information is actually stored (but hard to attain) in vaults forever, just that we can't get to them easily somehow, or do we actually forget and the memories cannot be attained regardless of what methods are used?

Do we actually have every second of every day visual information stored in vaults (figure of speech), but can't attain them because we don't have perhaps enough (neurons) or (energy) to afford to remember because other functions are more important to keep the body functioning? Would it require too many neurons to reflect on a issue of that particular moment 20 years ago at an exact specific time that our bodies would shut down if we tried?

When we meditate can we tell our (memory = neurons) to put in more effort to reflect back and since our body is in a calm state of emotion that requires less energy worrying about other functions we can get to the past easier?

I also believe (not sure if it is just my vivid imagination or an actually state of spiritualism that we haven't grasp 100% yet) that we can remember our past life and the things we have done in them.

I visualize often for some odd reason, I was a hit man in the 1930's in Chicago who witnessed my wifes assassination and as I held here in my arms in my apartment in Chicago on the second floor I too was shot from behind and died. As our souls drifted away I can see how I today somehow have a urging bond and sadness of missing her in my new bodily form. Now I know this sounds soooo crazy for alot of people, especially atheists who I find all genius and smart people, but somehow it just seems so real like I still miss her. If it is my imagination or a reality, I will never know.

It would be highly interesting to know on how much we could attain at one time with our thoughts? How far can we go with these past thoughts and what would the maximum thought process possibilities be to attain them?

I think this post still kind of goes with the thread because I see my past life in images as if they are real.

Thank you for your patience in reading my bizarre post.

I too have had such strange 'memories' during a past life regression experience. I am also aware of the affects on perception stemming from how much the human wants to believe in something.



Mashed potatoes please...

(passing the mash potatoes)

Have you come up with any conclusions as of why or perhaps how?

I am unsure that I understand the question smiless... could you re-phrase it?

(Passing salt and butter just in case you need it)

There are actually a few questions.

Is there a possibility that we can remember every visualization of every second of every single day from our past?

Is it possible that all information we have acquired or experienced visually is stored in a type of memory bank, but just that we can't attain them because it would require too much energy or neurons to access such detailed information that it would shut down our other functions to keep us alive?

Is it a possibility to remember a past life (if such a thing exists) because we had so much love of someone to have not forgotten it in this lifetime?

What do you believe to be true?

(gravy anyone?)

Well what it is worth I am sure there are a great many replies, idealogies, and opinions on the questions I presented. In the end we each can decide what to believe to be true, or stay neutral and undecided, or even disagree with the conclusions. That in itself is amazing if you think about it.

I heard that a person who watches and gets real involved in a movie or soap opera and actually experiences emotion and feels involved with the drama, can sometimes adopt that memory as his own and actually believe it was his or her own experience.

I believe when emotion is involved that the effect on the psyche is the same as real memories and the subconscious can't tell the difference between reality and the movie if the visual pictures are strong and emotion packed. The conscious person might rationally know the difference but they can also confuse their life with the lives they watch on television or in movies.

Oh now you are saying I am crazy in a nice way! Well thanks alot!

Just joking. Yes I can see that as a probability indeed Jeannie.

Smiless,

Right now, I am unsure what to believe regarding the possibility of re-incarnation. I lean towards the idea that if it is in fact possible, that it would not be a complete reincarnation of soul or spirit. Retained memory though... I just don't know.

Salt is good and butter even better...



Thank you for the invite!

I understand completely. One of those many questions that philosophers have been asking for thousands of years and we still can't seem to get a grasp of it. I mean of course many of us "believe" to have the answers, but there will always be others who won't agree with those conclusions.

It is a ironic part of our life experience that we can't seem to find answers to some of our curiousities, but nevertheless a interesting study of interests we seem to pursue in our lifetime.

Good luck on it and don't hesitate if you find some interesting conclusions that may clinge to be true for you.

Not at all. I was just pondering the process of the brain in accepting 'memories' as their own experiences.

I believe it is entirely possible to implant false memories into a person's experience that will be totally accepted as real memories.

So memory is not reliable, even memory accessed via hypnotism or past life regression is not reliable. It can be picked up out of the collective subconscious and adopted by the person as his or her own experience, particularly when feeling and emotions are involved.

So does this mean that our "false" memories are meaningless? No, it further connects us to the whole of the universe. The memories are certainly 'someone's memory or imagination and if not your own, then it came from someone else. This means that we are connected to the universal mind and that we do have access to information and memories of others.

If your are troubled by past memories or lack thereof, this can easily be remedied. You can create your own past or change it to suit yourself.

Would this be considered an untruth? If you want to consider it that way, yes. But the real truth is that memories are just thoughts about how you once perceived an event. If you change you perspective or attitude about that past event you can change the memory. Or you can just forget that event. Or you can make up an event and convince your subconscious it was a real experience.

False memories lead to false conclusions.

That may be more useful to the one remembering though, depending upon the content.

Not always.

But how would a person know if they had false memories?

Always.

True premises cannot lead to false conclusions. False premises cannot lead to true conclusions. If either one does, there is something amiss in the construct itself...

or...

If one has a false memory and leads to a true conclusion, then that memory had no role in the logical progression leading to the conclusion. In other words, it was not the premise, and therefore played no role in the logical progression.

With that in mind, if one thinks that they have a true memory, one must look at what has been logically(necessarily) concluded from that memory. If that conclusion necessarily follows and is false, then so was the memory, and vice-versa.

Sometimes, there is no way to know.

You're right, OP. You might be interested in gestalt theory, as it gets into the science of visual communication. :) Pretty interesting stuff!