Short Term Memory And Long-Term Memory, And Humanity

In this paper, I will argue that the Memory Theory of Personal Identity is the closest to the truth. I will do so by showing that the opposing theories – Body and Soul Theories – have evident flaws and that the

To understand the importance of DID in philosophical debates on personal identity, we must first understand what DID entails. DID is a mental disorder in which the person afflicted with the disorder momentarily “loses” their personal identity through what are known as: dissociative [or disassociation] episodes. Furthermore, this “loss,” which causes a person to take on, or switch to, a “different” identity, occurs when a person with DID is triggered by an action, person, and/or thing that makes a repressed traumatic experience, or at least a part of it, resurface. Yet, this “loss” of personal identity cannot solely be considered a “loss” because it is more of a purposeful defense involuntarily utilized by the mind of someone with DID to prevent the person from becoming aware of the repressed experience that has resurfaced. Moreover, disassociation, some may say, is a way to prevent the resurfaced experience from reaching the shoreline.

Human beings have full control over their identities after they have received knowledge and have become shaped from external stimuli. These stimuli include the teaching process of humans which comes through tradition, schooling, and the actions of other humans and the influence of the organisms around them. Andrew Solomon, through “Son,” was able to use his experience of growing up and labeling himself as a gay dyslexic to show how his environment and knowledge had shaped his identity and how it was viewed by others with different identities. In “An Elephant Crackup,” Charles Siebert was able to explain how the other organisms or humans are able to form new identities for elephants over time by shaping them a new environment and having the elephants process it. In “Mind’s Eye,” Oliver Sacks had different case studies of blindness from different people and was able to show how each one experienced their blindness help shape and express their individual identities. The stimuli that becomes processed by a person in the situations, accounts, and studies of these works assist in the role of explaining the formulation of an identity.

The Identity theory maintains a monistic belief by considering states of mind as being indistinguishable to brain states. Mental experiences including feeling pain, and possessing mental images are not correlated with, but in fact are brain processes (Smart, 2007). When dealing with the question of whether the mind and brain are identical, identity theorists differentiate between two forms, Type Identity and Token Identity (Schneider). Token Identity theory considers that mental

The concept of personal identity or personhood is a very complex area of philosophy that challenges our most basic understandings of mind and matter. Philosophers have generally settled into either the school of mind, or consciousness, and the school of body. As our ability to study the mind grows, through developments in psychology and neurology, consciousness-based theories have come to dominate the discussion of personal identity and body-based theories appear simplistic and even primitive. Thesis: Catriona Mackenzie, however, compels the field to make a renewed examination of the body by pointing out that the body is the very apparatus by which the self interacts with world, thereby shaping all of the experiences which constitute memory and consciousness.

Anyone reading Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” can assume that he knows a lot about the brain and how it works. After all he graduated from Yale in 2004, and later went on to become the 2006 United States Memory Champion. With Foer’s interest in mental athletes he decided to do a journalism project to study them. This project would end up being the result of his book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything from which “The End of Remembering” is one of the chapters. In this chapter Foer’s lays a solid foundation of the development of writing. He also includes historical views of remembering and how we learned in terms of our memory. Foer not only gives historical views but supports his claims with science

Identity is one’s perception that shapes one’s mind. It reflects the outer aspect of personality and the life choices we make as an individual. In Anthem by Ayn Rand, a dystopian futuristic novelfuture, Equality talks about how society is integrated to try to control his mind, body, and spirit. In “Don’t. The secret of self control” by Jonah Lehrer, a nonfiction article, Lehrer explains an experiment where children are determined to be a high or low delayers. Furthermore, In “Who Holds The Clicker” by Lauren Slater, a nonfiction article, Slater explains analyzes the fear of how brain implants can treat intractable mental illness. The formation of identity is created when a person is tied to the choices he makes,

The stage of skill acquisition in which a skill no longer relies on conscious effort is the:

Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.

What constitutes someone’s identity as a person? Some may argue that role models or one’s environment can influence a person’s values. Others may differ and remark how one’s experiences in life can determine how one may perceive the world. However, the memories from these experiences may not always positively affect an individual. Instead, a memory or event may be of a severe traumatic event that can unknowingly haunt an individual for the rest of his or her life. These memories will then possess a strong control over one’s life that can alter the way that a person may live their life. For a trauma victim, their life may be plagued by moments of time that may appear to trigger his or her trauma, resulting in an individual losing touch with reality. This experience portrays an altered reality that can make the trauma victim tremble with fear concerning that moment in time where they were at their most vulnerable. The mental state of trauma victims is explored by Martha Stout in her essay, “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday.” Stout, a psychologist, depicts how a number of her clients, trauma victims, from varying degrees of dissociation. Dissociation can affect a trauma victim in many forms, and is often used a method to protect the mental state of a victim from further pain. By allowing the subconscious to take over, the victim does not have to be mentally present for situations that may trigger one’s memory of trauma. This will protect the victim but this level

Psychologists Strohminger and Nichols took a few more steps farther to finding out the answers to these questions.” There is a widespread notice, both within the sciences and among the general public, that mental deterioration can rob individuals of their identity. Yet there have no systematic investigations of what types of cognitive damage lead people to appear to no longer be themselves. We measured perceived

Trauma can affect a person in many ways. In fact, it can lead to a disorder known as Dissociate Identity. This is when a person has two or more distinct personalities/identities. To further our understanding of the disorder, National Alliance on Mental Illness describes it as, “an involuntary escape from reality characterized by a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness and memory Identity.” Multiple Identity Disorder isn’t as well-known and it’s a hard complex to understand which leads to doubting if it’s even real. Although many believe it’s not a real disorder, others argue it is. In my research we will take a further and deeper understanding of how Double Identity Disorder works, explore its

Short Term Memory Loss. Ironically most of us don’t even think about memory that often, much less Short Term Memory. Because of that, this psychological disorder often tends to get overlooked for a small problem that no one wants to take serious. Most people would recognize this disorder from the popular movie, Finding Nemo. In which one of the main characters suffers from short term memory loss. In the film it’s taken as a lovable flaw, instead of the serious disorder that it is. But Short Term Memory is a lot more than one disorder found in a character in a movie. It is a somber disorder that could happen to any of us. This paper will be going through the gravity of this disorder and the causes to its victims.

If on Tuesday, I suffer an accident and lose all of my memory, it is probable that my family and friends will still love and care for me, creating an impression that I am indeed the same person I once was. These conditions imply the theses of animalism and bodily continuity when it comes to personal identity. However, is this human habit enough to discard the idea that it is psychological continuity that sustains identity? Whilst many may argue that it would be against our intuition to say that I am no longer the same person, I do not believe that this is caused by our intuition, but instead a societal construct that’s sole purpose is to make the trauma of the accident and loss easier to deal with. By using this premise and upholding the psychological

The most plausible and least problematic view of personal identity is the psychological view. It takes the position in which each person stage remembers the previous stage barring a break. In the example given by Miller about the Julia North case he states, “Memory is sufficient for