Memory

I have written before (Nov. 25th) about how our memory can “flashback” to things unrelated to the triggering incident. The immense capacity that we have for remembering things, the instant linkage, is astounding. The brain links to certain things OH so much faster than even my new Pentium.
A few years ago, my husband happened to find in a thrift store a box of “Spick and Span” floor washing powder. Now this happens to be the brand that my mother used as we were growing up.
As I poured the powder into a half-bucket of water, the smell of pine hit my nose, and instantaneously I was felled by a wave of longing: HOME. Now I had not smelled that washing powder for some thirty years, but the connection was intact, and instantaneous. Amazing.

I was once at a conference held by the “Feuerstein” center of Jerusalem. This center works with individuals with all sorts of learning difficulties, using the method of instrumental enrichment and mediated learning. A speaker attending from overseas (Germany, I think), gave a very interesting presentation. He had worked with a child who had suffered a terrible amount of brain damage; the brain scan showed severe areas of impairment. Using the Feuerstein methods, he was able to help the child improve’ using the scant number of working areas the child had left in his brain.
The point of all this is the awe that I feel when contemplating the vast resources of the brain, and the idea that we dare challenge ourselves, and our pupils, to use it. And if the front door is closed, we have to investigate and try and find the side entrance.

Flashbacks and short circuits

Yesterday there was a mild earthquake here. I didn't feel it, being sound asleep at that early morning hour. But both my husband and one of my sons and did feel it. When they mentioned it this morning, my mind played a trick on me: it flashed me back to a piece of music from long ago; with the lyrics "I feel the earth move under my feet". (Carole King) Now that song has NOTHING to do with earthquakes, but my mind clicks over to there on hearing the words "earth shake". But I knew that the song was irrelevant to the topic being discussed, and I didn't mention it.
But for my daughter Ricki, time and time again her brain clicks open to a certain file, based on a phrase, a word….and out spills the song or information that is there. This information may be totally wrong, and often is even inappropriate. She will be singing away a song, unaware that it is not applicable to the situation, or even that no one wanted to hear this song. She seems content that she "knows" the answer, even if it isn't, really. I usually know what is going on: after all, I help her study and archive a lot of information. However, others (especially strangers), do not. In these cases I feel that it is not enough to point out the mistake. Later, in private, the point needs to be made about THINKING about "Is this appropriate?" as well. I think that this point will need to be made many many times before it sinks in; so I need to start now.