記憶の場所

10年以上前に書いた英作文です。考え方や文法に間違いが存在する可能性が高いです。

 (The followings are not based on firm evidences but a result of my intuition.)

(And I'm sorry that my English is sometimes wrong or too poor to describe abstract affairs such as the followings.)

(Here I mean by the word Memory not memorizing but memorized contents.)

Generally, scientists and modern people under their theories think of Memories as contents being stored in each Brain, but I don't think that. I think, though a brain have the function of taking in the images of things which the nervous system perceived and the function of recalling these images, it don't mean having the function of a storehouse. Likening memories into water, a brain have roles of watercourses and valves but don't have the function of a water tank.

Well then, Where are memories stored. But there is a nonsense in this question. That is the fact that we apply memories to the concept "where" Naturally, and Actually memories have no places in the sense of our ordinary thinking. And our tendency to allot memories to Place, Brain the firm material realm, is involuntary wrong application due to the fact that we live experiencing the three-dimensional space ordinarily, that is our unconsciously confusing spirit with matter, I suspect.

Fundamentally speaking, regarding three-dimensional space, it have not been varified perfectly as actual existence, or some people say that it is no more than a tool or a concept through which we human beings feel the outer world. Adopting this theory here, three-dimensional space is the concept which spirit invented for life to live in this world conveniently. By the way, Memory is a such thing that is more fundamental and essential than a tool to live, I think. That is to say, memory is not a thing that spirit have invented but the tracks of spirit itself, process of life. Then returning to the earlier problem, applying perfectly the concept, that is no more than a tool to grasp, to memory, that is essential movement and tracks of spirit itself, is obviously false if we think that way. To say, memories don't exist in a brain that is physical and three-dimensional space. Spatial places don't correspond to memory, but memory exist at a Place which we are hard to call as Place. Boldly speaking, even if a brain vanish, it can be possible for memories to exist Somewhere. Merely, it is difficult to indicate the Somewhere by a clear concept of Place, which is often haunted by three-dimensional space. Anyway, if only we separate memory from the physical concept, three-dimensional space, it is obvious to us that memory exist somewhere but the brain.

一般的に、科学者やその理論の影響下にある現代人にとって、記憶は脳に保存されていると見なされているが、私はそうではないと思っている。思うに、脳は神経系が知覚した事象の印象を取り込む機能や、その印象を思い出す機能は持っているが、記憶の保存庫としての機能は持っていない。記憶を水に喩えるなら、脳は水路やバルブの役割を持っていても、貯水の機能は持っていない。

では記憶は何処に保存されているのか。しかしこの問いには一つのナンセンスが含まれている。すなわち、記憶に「何処」という概念をあたりまえに当てはめてしまっているということであり、実際のところは記憶には私たちが一般に思っている様な意味での場所など存在しなく、私たちが記憶に対して、場所、脳という確固たる物質的領域をあてがいたくなるのは、私たちが日常で三次元空間を体験しながら生きていることに依る無意識の間違った適用であり、精神と物質の無意識的な混同なのではないのだろうか。

もともと、三次元空間だって、それが確固たる実在として完璧には立証されていない、いわば人間が外界を感じるときのための道具や概念でしかないという説もよく見受けられる。その説を採用して、三次元空間も生命が世界を便利に生きるために精神が開発したものでしかないとしよう。ところで、記憶というのは、生存のための道具というよりも、もっと根源的で本質的なものではないだろうか、すなわち精神が開発したものではなく、精神の軌跡そのものなの、生命の過程そのものなのだ。そこでさっきの問題に立ち返ってみると、精神の本質的運動そのものとその過程である記憶に、精神が生み出した単に生存のための一種の捉え方でしかない三次元空間という概念を、ぴったり当てはめることは、こう考えてみると明らかな誤謬になる。すなわち記憶は脳という物的三次元空間には存在しない。空間的な場所が対応しているのではなく、場所とは呼びにくい場所に存在している。大胆に言ってしまえば、脳が消滅したとしても、記憶は何処かにある可能性がある。ただ、その何処かというのが、はっきりとした場所という概念で示しにくい。場所という概念には三次元空間という概念が普通はよくつきまとっているから。とにかく、記憶を三次元空間という物的概念から引き離せば、その場所は脳ではない何処かだということは明らかだろう。

Sirius and Nommo

We see from the earth Sirius, the Dog-star, move in a bit disorder, of which earlier scientists inferred there would be an invisible companion star, whose gravitation might make Sirius move on elliptical orbit in the Universe. Several decades after it, owing to development of science and technology, scientists found the star's companion Sirius B, the Pup, which has mass roughly equal to the Sun though has only the size roughly equal to the Earth, then which has large density and gravity but is invisible to the naked eyes, whose color is white and whose gravitation they verified effects on the orbit of Sirius. This discovery was in 19th century.

By the way, there is an African tribe who have a mythology about Sirius. The Dogon in Mali. The fact that Sirius is an important star for the Dogon is not amazing because that is explained by the prominent brightness of Sirius, but according to French anthropologists, astonishingly, the Dogon knew already the existence of the companion star in far earlier than 19th, ancient times. Furthermore they described in detail the fact that the Sirius B was very heavy in spite of its small size and was white, and the fact that Sirius A and B moved on elliptical orbit. The Dogon is a tribe who doesn't have the science and technology such as telescopes or advanced astronomy. That Dogon have the amazing knowledge about Sirius from ancient times, and moreover they knew that Jupiter had four large satellites, which is invisible to the naked eyes.

When the Dogon are asked why they knew these astronomic facts, they explain that the Nommo, the spirit who live in outer space, taught them the facts. And they describe the situation in which a spacecraft carrying the Nommo were landing with spin before them.

How do we interpret this. In my personal observation, it is more real that we understand it as delusions or paranormal perception common to the Dogon, than that we interpret it as aliens' invading, that is pretty occultic. At this point I associate words of an American writer, who has a certain-degree grounding in science and philosophy. Aldous Huxley says that, though we human beings perceive events which happened far away in the universe, a brain and nervous system function as restriction or as the regulating valve so that all perceived contents don't appear on consciousness, because if appear all of perceived contents that may disorder our ordinary life. This view he reach by his mystical experience using drags, but if his view is true, we can explain the knowledge Dogon have about astronomy. To say, those in Dogon who have constitution of hallucination perceived directly things about Sirius or Jupiter in trance, I guess. And Nommo appeared as the vision of symbol that told the truth of the universe in trance.

According to Aldous Huxley, we experience as visions various things of the universe, which involve matters concerning religion or mysticism and things which are useless to or harmful to our daily life, due to disordered conditions of brain, for example a brain's trouble in fasting or dyschylia in taking in drugs, rather than due to our higher function of brains or advanced technology. If that's the case, we can say that the normal function of a brain is to select useful perceived contents out of all ones (rather than to perceive things purely) and to make nerves concerning these images work then make tissues move so as for us to live accommodating ourselves to daily life and reality. And that when this function's order is broken we perceive events of the universe which don't concern our reality is not astonishing nor mysterious, if we think that way.

It is true that we may not perceive in any paranormal situation things which don't concern human reality in any degree, but the Dogons, to whom mythology of the universe is important in living, place more direct importance on things about Sirius than we do, so when the valve relax in a trance the companion of Sirius appeared before them. To civilized people Sirius is no more than a scientific concern, but to the Dogons it is important to live. To say, useful perception was selected out. A brain and nerves can be said to be tools to select perceived contents useful to reality out of innumerable ones which life perceives unconsciously and to make use of these selected for our acting and living. A brain only select useful perception, and if I was allowed to say boldly, perception itself happen neither at a brains nor nerves......