Page 149 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

130 Mysteries of the Mind

• Mirror. Reveals one’s true Self. good, bad, or While memory is easy to define, there is no
indifferent. A reflection of the truth. Can agreement among researchers to explain how
also represent illusion, that which is not it works, and scientists have not yet estab-
real, only a reflection. lished a model for the actual mechanics of
•Needle. Sewing indicates repairing errors of memory that is consistent with the subjective
the past or may be someone giving some- nature of consciousness.
one the “needle.” Dr. Daniel L. Schacter, a Harvard professor
• Ocean. Spirit, God, Higher Self. Peace, of psychology and an expert on memory, states
unless a rough sea, then turmoil, strife, etc. that subjectivity in the process of remembering
• Pig. Selfishness. involves at least three important aspects: Mem-
• Relatives. Relatives often represent parts of ories are mental constructs fashioned in accor-
the dreamer’s Self playing various roles of dance with the present needs, desires, and influ-
his or her life. ences of the individual; memories are often
• Suitcase. Prosperity. Desire to travel. Pres- accompanied by emotions and feelings; and the
tige. Subconscious desire for someone else actual act of remembering something usually
to go away. involves a conscious awareness of the memory.
• Sun. Spiritual light and awareness. In the twenty-first century, some scientists
•Teeth. The loss of a tooth or teeth may fore- favor the comparison of the brain to a com-
tell the loss of something of value. puter and memories as programs that have
•Water. Source of Life. Spirit, God, Univer- been encoded into the system. Behaviorists
sal. argue that memories, and the thinking process
in general, are products of learned behavior.
M Delving Deeper
Faraday, Ann. Dream Power. New York: Berkley Many researchers have long observed that
Medallion Books Edition, 1973. the more traumatic an experience, the more
Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. New likely an individual is to recall it later. Neuro-
York: Basic Books, 1955. scientists point to numerous current studies
that indicate that memory involves a set of
Hall, Calvin S. The Meaning of Dreams. New York:
encoded neural connections that can occur in
McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1953, 1956.
several parts of the brain. The more powerful
Jung, C. G., ed. Man and His Symbols. London: Aldus
the images accompanying an event, the more
Books, 1964; New York: Dell Publishing, 1968.
the brain is stimulated and likely to make it a
Krippner, Stanley. Dreamtime and Dreamwork: Decod-
part of long-term memory.
ing the Language of the Night. Los Angeles: Jeremy
P. Tarcher, 1990. Although scientists have yet to understand
Krippner, Stanley, with Mark Waldman. Dreamscap- how memory really works, a survey of psychol-
ing: New and Creative Ways to Work with Your ogists conducted in 1996 revealed that 84 per-
Dreams. Los Angeles: Lowell House, 1999. cent of them believed that every experience a
Perls, Frederick S. Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. person undergoes throughout his or her life is
Lafayette, Calif.: Real People Press, 1969. stored in the mind. However, a great many
current studies suggest that such is not the
Sechrist, Elsie. Dreams—Your Magic Mirror. New
case. An increasing amount of research on
York: Dell Publishing, 1969.
memory indicates that every moment of every
Stekel, Wilhelm. The Interpretation of Dreams. New
bit of sensory data experienced by individuals
York: Washington Square Press, 1967.
throughout the course of their normal day-to-
day life process is not retained by the brain
and is not able to be recalled at some future
The Mechanics of Memory time. Rather than the brain serving as a kind
of repository for a complete audio or video
emory is the ability to retain and to recording of everything that has ever hap-
recall personal experiences, informa- pened to a person, the only memories that are
Mtion, and various skills and habits. stored are bits and fragments of one’s more

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