On this page we are going to deal with the two general types of memory, what are commonly known as procedural and declarative memory, their meaning and modes of action within the model of Dasein built thus far. Before this subject is tackled, it should be noted that for the same reasons the precise nature of Anticipation was not explicitly defined in the last section, which reasons shall only become clear themselves when we consider the basic functional nature of Dasein later, the memory too is difficult to pinpoint in location and specific neural connection, basically because there is no single way to do it. Only after neurological research seeking such a model is carried out can the actual functional connectivity of the human brain be determined, and in the meantime we must make do with an average, generalised, understanding. Procedural Memory and Entities Back at the beginning of the inquiry a hypothetical situation of a fish being able to retain and recall an experienced event was posed, where this was simply the result of an Interpretation causing a neuronal "re-wiring" that associated a sense, that of the environmental threat, with an action, swimming away in this case. The nature of such re-wiring shall be addressed later, for now it is enough to know that this can and does happen. This simple situation demonstrated the symbiotic relationship between Entity and Interpretation, and the intrinsic birth of procedural memory within their function. Thus, procedural memory may be simply understood as the identification of a Thing of the World as an Entity Being-in-the-World in an Interpretation performed by Dasein. In the Interpretation of sense data, and in the identification of data with a prior experience, that "memory" has been "recalled". Memory Creation and Context As is vital when considering relative ontology, the context of a situation is all defining of the nature of the Entities at hand. Of equal import to the recollection of the Entity in question, the memory, is the manner in which it is created. As we have but a single function, Interpretation, in operation, some provision must me made within its action to allow for the relative definition of a "new" Entity. This too shall be addressed later, as it falls under the more general umbrella of the basic function of Interpretation. Nevertheless, we have seen that Interpretation must Interpret senses of different modalities, sight, sound and the like, and also Entities of progressively more abstract and complex representation. Summary Created 3rd March 2009 Revised 4th March 2009 |