Transplant memory - a related phenomenon?

[Topher Cooper]

Originally Posted by pacificwhim

note the capitalization; Topher, I think you've created a meme!

Spread it perhaps, but its not my creation. Its fairly standard in some circles.

[jacob]

Going back to the memory not being stored inside the brain. Ok, so let's assume that the brain is some kind of tuner. But then the other side of the question: what does it tune into? i.e. where and by what means is the information stored?

Is it a universal mind (what's this, then), the Akashic records or the morphogenetic field? Any other theory?

I think that if find out how the information is stored, it would be easier to theorize how the brain is a tuner. Or the other way around

[David Bailey]

Originally Posted by Topher Cooper

I don't think that your heart neuron theory will do it. .

I was not proposing the theory - but putting it up to knock it down!

As you say, there is the problem of the distance from the brain, but regardless of the location of the neurons, another problem is that if the conventional idea that memories are stored in trained neural nets is correct, one person's neural net for, say 'beer' would be quite different from another's. I.e. memories should not transfer in this way.

David

[mcromer]

I think that if find out how the information is stored,

Well that is the materialist assumption, right there. That information has to be "stored" somewhere.

If the universe is essentially mental, and time is an illusion (as physics seems to be telling us) then past experiences could become present to us in a form we might call memory.

The brain structures like the hippocampus might be, in this case, simply a way to make past experiences accessable to the present, rather than experiences being actually "written" into the brain in some coded manner. Since no one has every been able to locate these stored memories in the brain, and since the evidence of mediumship indicates that, at least in some cases, memories survive death, this seems quite possible.

[jacob]

Originally Posted by mcromer

Well that is the materialist assumption, right there. That information has to be "stored" somewhere.

If the universe is essentially mental, and time is an illusion (as physics seems to be telling us) then past experiences could become present to us in a form we might call memory.

Meaning that the brain is a tuner to the past? That's an interesting concept. Well, also need to explain things like selective memory, temporary memory losses, or short-time memory. All those freaky phenomena that happen to people as a result of some trauma or accident need to be consistent with any proposed theories.

[David Bailey]

It is interesting that nobody so far has tried to argue that the basic phenomenon of memory transfer via transplantation does not exist.

David

[Topher Cooper]

I was taking it as a given for purposes of discussion.

I haven't examined the evidence so I can't comment on it, but I have severe prior doubts about how strong it could be, even if the phenomena exists. Subconscious sensory leakage, memory changes, and selective reporting are all conventional that would be difficult to distinguish. That leaves out completely the possibility of ESP. The concept of a memory being "attached" to any body part and especially one so numinous as the heart has immense mythic and psychological salience that is bound to produce strong demand characteristics for producing all of these phenomena, conventional and unconventional.

Again, not questioning the phenomena and until I've had a look at it I can't question the evidence, but I can question the likelihood that the evidence will be strong.

[David Bailey]

I don't think it makes sense to even talk about distinguishing various phenomena from ESP.

The various reported ψ abilities can obviously be decomposed in several ways - much as a vector can be resolved into components in different ways using different coordinate systems.

I think that if the raw phenomenon is strong enough, its implications are staggering. There is supposed to be one case where the recipient gave evidence to the police that lead to the conviction of the killer of the donor (I presume they did not use her testimony in court!).

David

[Bonteburger]

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[jacob]

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