Six Memory

The main image is by the wonderful Rebecca Cother.

Introduction

This is piece that I posted on the 29th of July 2018 and thanks to Facebook reminders I knew it was the birthday of six people. Ift got me thinking of how we use technology to remember things for us.

I think I only knw my own mobile phone number now but in the last millennium I knew a lot by heart as I didn't have a mobile device, and away from home the most mobile I got was using a phone box.

My memory has never been good and today I can forget something when I am trying to copy from one workbook to another. I think, yeah I can remember that, and then can't , so I have to go back and copy it. Thank god for the Windows Clipboard which is an absolute godsend for me in so many instances. If you don't know about it, check it out here, it is a huge benefit for Windows computer users.

Six Memory

Today is the 29th of July and it's the birthday of six people I know in varying degrees of importance, and until this morning I was unaware it was their birthday. These include myson-in-law Mark (important), Amanda, Ellen, Savona, Sam and Laura.

That got me thinking on how, more and more we let electronic devices do our remembering for us, and in some ways that is good because it allows the mind to focus on other, hopefully, more creative or inventive pursuits.

Someone was once shocked that Albert Einstein didn't know the speed of light. His retort "Why do I need to know that? I can look it up in a book". That's always been an inspiration to me, because my memory has always been atrocious, though I find it odd that I will know the plots of Shakespeare's plays but seldom could remember quotes. When I did the Law part of my Business Studies I knew all about cases but could never remember what the cases were, which was fine when doing course work but not in an exam situation.

This reminded me of a TED talk by a guy, Henry Evans, struck down at the age of 40, now a quadroplegic who now lives his life aided and through his devices. We are all now reliant on so many devices, ebven though we may not think we are. Stephen Hawking used devices to share his thoughts and knowledge with our world. These peaople show us what CAN be achieved in situations of apparently impossible adversity.

You press a light switch you expect the light to shine. Thanks to phones you now don't have to remember phone numbers, I still know about three, all my own, but I know where to find phone numbers.

I've been in IT on and off for the best part of forty years but with out reference books the best I can come up with is:

SELECT * FROM table_name WHERE field_name = "What I Want"

But I know where to find out how to do what I want, I don't need to remeber how to do it.

So for a change a none music related post, it's a rainy Sunday but if you are lucky you wont be at work.

Conclusion

I still forget things. The other day I could not remember Burnley's manager Vincent Kompany . As a player and manager he is someone who is easily recognisable, but I forgot who it was. Luckily I looked up Burnley on the FotMob application and that listed him as the manager.

Technology to the rescue once more.