Listen to this Chapter Philosopher Pix Notes on this and other Chapters A Million Laughs and Poignant Too Plain Background Definition of Terms Used General Bibliography

~ Toe = Theory of everything (several)~

~ Eoe = Explanation of everything (only one)~

~ Memory ~ ID 2506 May 18, 2008

Thoughts on thought and memory in recent times have been based on the theoretical approach that some material functions of brain matter interact with energy to cause thinking and store memory. Unfortunately for these theorists there is no explanation of how matter was created of nothing or even a postulation of how it could be. Scientists usually put religious explanations aside because they are based on individual beliefs and not anything that could be considered fact or absolute. Our learning institutions teach that we evolved into thinking beings from a primordial sea that spontaneously created life and that this condition could well be taking place within our universe in a multitude of places and at a multitude of stages. This idea is so ingrained that it is taught universally as though it were proven and not just another theory among millions. The idea cannot stand up to any scrutiny at all, simply because it places the responsibility of the creation of these worlds on another equally ridiculous theory that is also universally taught, lately, as the cyclical expansion and compression of all the matter of the universe over huge expanses of time. During much of this time the theory states that thinking beings do not exist and during portions of this time scientific laws as we know them are suspended and processes beyond science take place. There is no account for how the matter of this theory came to be, nor how the space it occupies came to be, nor how that space could be either limitless or finite. The theory is taught ignoring these prerequisites as if such a huge passage of time and such a massive subject such as a universe makes them unnecessary. The word; universe means everything and discounts any `beyond’ and the idea of multiple universes confounds itself by attempting to conceptualize everything times a factor. There can only be one `everything’.

We do exist. We think, therefore we are. Cogito ergo Sum as stated in Latin and attributed to René Descartes. These statements are not conjectural or theoretical or ideas of a fertile mind created of matter. The matter of the mind is theoretical but the mind itself is not. Either thought creates memory that is stored in a material mind or brain or it does not. Since the material part of this pursuit is conjectural as is the material of the reciprocating universe and since there is not even one single coherent theory of how material could be created from nothing, it must be assumed that no material could or would ever exist. Humans can create the thought of matter in the form of a world of tactility, taste and smell. They can think they hear matter moving against itself and see it coursing through reality but there is no proof that it exists in and of itself. Although the thought of nothingness being the starting point of creation may seem like a perfectly reasonable and practical idea it is nonetheless just an idea. There is no proof of creation from nothing nor proof that a condition of nothingness could even exist. The words themselves; `nothingness could exist’ is a contradiction since nothingness would obviate even the condition of nothingness itself. You could try to say that "non-existence would not even have a place to non-exist" or some such other expression but such thoughts are impossible to communicate, make no sense and are patently oxymoronic. Oddly enough we can even conceptualize the impossible or at least we get the feeling that we can.

Our thought process allows for a number of things that are difficult or impossible to explain when closely examined. The universe has this fuzzy edge that we all seem to conceptualize yet even the Hubble telescope saw no such thing. In our sci-fi videos we see the universe as a thing swirling about similar to a galaxy only ?millions of times larger. The edge of the screen conveniently provides an edge to the concept and we generally do not try to think beyond that but conceptually we would automatically add other universes and continue to ignore the edge of reality as we are unable to conceive it. This thought is similar to the nothingness idea. It cannot be expressed and has no real theory at all, it just seems to have one and the seeming fact that it is so far beyond our physical or mental grasp that we need not venture mentally to any edge or limit of the concept, suffices. All of our theories are like that though we readily accept them and continue to dedicate our lives to their discovery and completion. If you take any theory that you are working on and try to express it in any language without using question marks like infinity symbols or the like, you will find it impossible to put into words. Scientists tend to use mathematics to prove their theories but numbers only have meaning and relationship to a material world and also require the use of unknowns. Since there is only a theoretical material world and unknowns are not proof of anything, math is of little use in understanding reality and really nothing more than a toy to the true philosopher.

Most scientists are involved in the study of what could be referred to as `real world’ problems such as the development of more efficient auto engines or the cure for specific diseases and the use of material objects to solve these problems certainly seems the obvious route to take. Mathematics in both these cases is absolutely essential and questioning whether the engine or the disease really exists is almost a moot point. There is such a strong influence that matter is real, in these contexts, especially if you have one of these diseases or have a motor drop on you and feel the weight of reality crushing your body, that few could truly question if matter actually exists. This has always been the major obstacle in the search for truth in this area. Reality seems so real, yet it must be either one way or the other. Trying to study memory and thought without knowing if it involves a material system or not is utterly essential and matter is the crux of the issue. It either exists or it does not and there is no middle ground. Since we have been so universally bound to `real’ matter for so many years, most of our study has been based on the premise that the existence of matter will eventually be proved and many of us mistakenly believe it already has.

The mind, thought processes, the brain and memory are problems of consideration that do not seem to rely so heavily on a material substance. The brain itself is the only one of the above that can be located and still appears to exist even when the other three are apparently gone such as in a deceased creature. The brain is considered to be the material container of the other three and so universally accepted as such that it sounds foolish to even mention it but again there is no proof that this is the case. Experiments with brain waves and brain stimulus on humans would seem to be so definitive a proof that the matter of the brain houses thought, memory and the mind, that bringing it into question is ridiculous but again, it’s all theoretical. The theory is that the physical brain is a storage and processing device that uses electrical impulses to transmit memory about and somehow construct thought. This is exposed as being fraudulent since it cannot be readily expressed in language without using unknowns to complete the description. The actual manifestation of thought has no apparency whatsoever unless you happen to be experiencing it yourself and then it encompasses absolutely everything. Solipsism states that you can think but when you look at others you cannot tell if they can do the same or if their apparent actions and confirmation that they do think is just a manifestation of your own thought. We can never directly know another’s mental ability. As a doctor we may place sensors on the patients head and look at our oscilloscope and see brain waves being detected but solipsism states that we could just be imagining this. It is considered by mainstream philosophy to be a skeptical viewpoint but that is a matter of popular opinion. One’s own thoughts and experience can easily be proven and is totally irrefutable but anything beyond that cannot be proven in any way that we are now aware of. So proof of matter cannot be supplied so it’s a waste of time considering it or even waiting for it to happen. You may wish to digest that a minute. I have just shown that matter does not exist nor can it be proven that it does nor could we know of any way it could be proven on account of the very design of perception itself. These statements are absolute and end the discussion of the existence of matter. If you cannot accept them then go over the points carefully and research everything independently.

Consider the following and try them:

No theoretical statement concerning matter can be expressed in language so that it is fully comprehensible.

No theoretical statement can describe a material existence within a universe that makes any sense as to origin or the space it occupies.

No theoretical statement can describe the function of thought or memory either in a material sense or otherwise.

The last statement is the one that gives the greatest problem to this very discussion. Without being able to consider the brain as a material object we have nothing to work with toward the understanding of thought and memory. Memory at this point seems to be a function of thought and is not stored in any way that is understood since there is no apparent storage device. The brain was the device assigned to this function previously but now may be considered non-existent and only a material manifestation of anatomy in dead creatures. We have no way of feeling our brains or accessing their presence as the container of thought processes so it must be assumed that thought takes place in some other location. Using assumptions at this point is looking more and more like a theoretical approach and since there is so little to work with, that is the process that will be used to hopefully isolate some knowledge about thought itself. It may be mentioned that it is also assumed that others are able to read this discussion regardless of solipsism.

Perhaps the best approach would be to express the things that seem most absolute about thinking and memory. Thinking a single thought is not possible. We know that. Thoughts come in an unbroken series that never seems to end even in sleep. We take for granted that we fall asleep and our thought process suspends for a period of time until we begin to dream or reawaken but our experience is different from that scenario. To us the thought process never ends. We fall asleep and for a period that we are unable to comprehend we move directly into dreaming and then awaken directly after that. There is no period that we do not continuously think and if there is or was we would not be able to experience it. Those things we do know. Also we know that the process of thought seems to have a dimension that we refer to as memory. There is the short term such as when someone says something and you are able to replay it in your mind to extract some extra meaning from it. Or replaying the sound of a raven cawing so that you could count the number caws just as an experiment. This ability is remarkable with regard to sound but also works with sight. You may see a person for a short period of time while you are occupied with driving and later recall the sight to check the color of windbreaker or other identifier, thinking that it was a person you knew. These processes show that there is a short term memory system that is apparent and gives some dimension to the present but how this functions is a mystery and quite possibly cannot be fathomed. It might as well be pointed out at this place in the discussion that anything that may seem to be proved is never really so. We can be convinced that something is true but that is as far as it can go. Perhaps the best example of this is the following philosophical assertions: We take the fact that `We Exist’ as an absolute and we cannot find any way to question this assertion but we also cannot find any method, place, size, origin, or description of this existence so does it remain a question or do we really exist? It would seem that we do exist as some form of thought process but the absolutes involved are always tenuous.

The long term memory seems to be the most difficult to explain when there is only one function identifiable and that being thought. It would seem that accurate memory of things in the distant past are only an illusion even though you may be able to find evidence that corroborates your memory such as a photograph or a letter, they too are only illusions and cannot really be considered proof that memory is true. It matters not how distant the memory is, there can be no proof of it’s validity, although that may seem unreasonable. Memory cannot be considered a separate function from thought since there is no way of doing so with the evidence to date.

Another observation is that there seems to be a `point’ of interest that the mind concentrates on and becomes oblivious to all else except as a peripheral influence. As an example you may be looking at a monitor and concentrating on where you are reading and the rest of your field of vision will remain but be considerably less apparent and as the room around you, just a conscious framework. This isn’t much of a revelation but does tell you that in order to see a scene more fully you must move this point of concentration around and record the various aspects in a conscious or unconscious way.

Well that’s about it. This is where the totality of information on thought and memory ends. Actually this is where all knowledge ends. The forgoing is pretty well everything we know as humans. All else is speculation and although the foregoing is very unpopular as a philosophy and not taught in any schools except as an aberration or minor perspective, it is nevertheless the future of intelligence and will one day be accepted. This cannot be considered a Toe (Theory of Everything) because it isn’t theoretical.

Chapter Two      Chapter Two Plain

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