Is Our Perception Of The Present Entirely Influenced By Memory?

[pauls456]

Let's not forget about the collective unconscious:

1. (in Jungian psychology) the part of the unconscious mind which is derived from ancestral memory and experience and is common to all humankind, as distinct from the individual's unconscious.

 

[pauls456]

Wikipedia on "Memento", a must-see film for anyone interested in this subject:

Many medical experts have cited Memento as featuring one of the most realistic and accurate depictions of anterograde amnesia. Caltech neuroscientist Christof Koch called Memento "the most accurate portrayal of the different memory systems in the popular media", while physician Esther M. Sternberg, Director of the Integrative Neural Immune Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, identified the film as "close to a perfect exploration of the neurobiology of memory."

 

[bullet08]

Partially, maybe. But not entirely.

 

[Jaylotw]

I'm a musician, and this entire concept of time, the present being entirely influenced by memory is a major reason why musicians get such a "high" during and immediately after a good gig.

When you're in the zone, all that matters is the present. The instant you pluck a string, that note is sounded, sent out and heard by the audience, and in the same instant, you're onto the next note. Your memory tells your body how to play the tune, but your mind is focused on the exact present instant, while reaching into the future to anticipate the next move. The past doesn't matter, until the audience reacts when the tune is done.

It's an amazing feeling, a thrill. It's almost impossible to achieve that feeling without some sort of stimulus- athletes experience it, thrill seekers etc. Maybe someone who's excellent at meditation.

Of course, there are gigs where that feeling is unachievable, and you mail it in while thinking about marmalade or whatever crosses your mind.

 

[LotusEater]

What you are describing sounds like “flow” or being in a flow state

Flow (psychology) - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

What is hope?

A positive expectation.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm a musician, and this entire concept of time, the present being entirely influenced by memory is a major reason why musicians get such a "high" during and immediately after a good gig.

When you're in the zone, all that matters is the present. The instant you pluck a string, that note is sounded, sent out and heard by the audience, and in the same instant, you're onto the next note. Your memory tells your body how to play the tune, but your mind is focused on the exact present instant, while reaching into the future to anticipate the next move. The past doesn't matter, until the audience reacts when the tune is done.

It's an amazing feeling, a thrill. It's almost impossible to achieve that feeling without some sort of stimulus- athletes experience it, thrill seekers etc. Maybe someone who's excellent at meditation.

Of course, there are gigs where that feeling is unachievable, and you mail it in while thinking about marmalade or whatever crosses your mind.

Exactly, as sense of satori. Like a potter at the kickwheel, with a well practiced hand, every touch of the finger, pressure, easing, and pushing, making a spit second speed of light razor's edge of NOW into something beautiful. Or a painter riding that lightning flash second as the brush makes contact with the canvas.
Or, a golfer, after having seasoned every muscle to make that split second contact with a ball, the moment that ball makes contact with that fraction of an inch spot on the ball, NOW happens. Or a baseball player swinging a bat, two objects in space colliding, practice, memory, control, and then letting go to let NOW happen.

It is NOW, and it is both letting go and memory.

It is the creative junky that rides this lightning bolt of NOW, but very much it is memory. For without memory, a batter swinging a bat at a ball, a club at a golf ball, or a brush on a canvas... is just a clumsy ape, grasping at rainbows.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

“Now” is what is meant by living in the present, Bro.

 

[Jaylotw]

Exactly, as sense of satori. Like a potter at the kickwheel, with a well practiced hand, every touch of the finger, pressure, easing, and pushing, making a spit second speed of light razor's edge of NOW into something beautiful. Or a painter riding that lightning flash second as the brush makes contact with the canvas.
Or, a golfer, after having seasoned every muscle to make that split second contact with a ball, the moment that ball makes contact with that fraction of an inch spot on the ball, NOW happens. Or a baseball player swinging a bat, two objects in space colliding, practice, memory, control, and then letting go to let NOW happen.

It is NOW, and it is both letting go and memory.

It is the creative junky that rides this lightning bolt of NOW, but very much it is memory. For without memory, a batter swinging a bat at a ball, a club at a golf ball, or a brush on a canvas... is just a clumsy ape, grasping at rainbows.

Hey I have a new vocabulary word! I think all of us chase that high, in one form or another. A few of us are addicted to it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hey I have a new vocabulary word! I think all of us chase that high, in one form or another. A few of us are addicted to it.

For me it is the moment the hammer touches sterling silver to push it exactly where I want it to go, or a welding flame pulling a string of solder down a seam. Or, where the stone touches a grinding wheel.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

“Now” is what is meant by living in the present, Bro.

Yes! And, in my post, now is reliant on memory.... going back to the OP. For without memory, a guy swinging a bat at a ball is not going to make contact, unless it is a huge act of luck or random serendipity.

 

[LotusEater]

Exactly, as sense of satori. Like a potter at the kickwheel, with a well practiced hand, every touch of the finger, pressure, easing, and pushing, making a spit second speed of light razor's edge of NOW into something beautiful. Or a painter riding that lightning flash second as the brush makes contact with the canvas.
Or, a golfer, after having seasoned every muscle to make that split second contact with a ball, the moment that ball makes contact with that fraction of an inch spot on the ball, NOW happens. Or a baseball player swinging a bat, two objects in space colliding, practice, memory, control, and then letting go to let NOW happen.

It is NOW, and it is both letting go and memory.

It is the creative junky that rides this lightning bolt of NOW, but very much it is memory. For without memory, a batter swinging a bat at a ball, a club at a golf ball, or a brush on a canvas... is just a clumsy ape, grasping at rainbows.

Interesting although only tangentially related - I’ve heard that it is impossible to hit a major league fast ball unless you start your swing before the ball leaves the pitchers hand.

 

[simong]

What is hope?

Want of a good thread!

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Yes! And, in my post, now is reliant on memory.... going back to the OP. For without memory, a guy swinging a bat at a ball is not going to make contact, unless it is a huge act of luck or random serendipity.

I’ve seen it done.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Did C.S. Lewis use his imagination or memory or both?

 

[puff_not_snuff]

A positive expectation.

Then, I hope for hope.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Or, a golfer, after having seasoned every muscle to make that split second contact with a ball, the moment that ball makes contact with that fraction of an inch spot on the ball, NOW happens.

I never saw golfing before I saw Caddyshack but I understood what golf was when I saw them playing golf in that film.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Did C.S. Lewis use his imagination or memory or both?

imagination is memory of sorts, so I am not sure what point you are trying to make. I've written a book on the imagination, but it's dissertation oriented, so I can't imagine anyone would want to read it, ha ha.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

imagination is memory of sorts, so I am not sure what point you are trying to make. I've written a book on the imagination, but it's dissertation oriented, so I can't imagine anyone would want to read it, ha ha.

So, do you remember yesterday when you related mindfulness to some sort of meditation? That was your memory.


My research was on female leadership. That
Doesn’t make me an expert.

Please understand , I’m not try by to change how you choose to think. For me, I don’t come to a pie forum for anything other than fun.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Then, I hope for hope.

Good for you, Puff