Cremation Vs. Burial

Moses Yoder · Post by **Moses Yoder** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:56 pm

I was talking at my parents house one time about the idea that I wanted to be cremated when I die. My dad said if I ever saw a body being cremated I would never do that, which made me wonder why that is but I knew better than to pursue it. So why not get cremated? If I get cremated I could get a friend of mine to make matching wooden urns for my wife and I and build a nice little cabinet for them ahead of time unless something unexpected happened. So what do you think; can a cremated body be resurrected? Other thoughts on the matter are also welcome.

amptramp · Post by **amptramp** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:11 pm

Has anyone ever reached a limit to the amount he can remember? In particular, images require a large amount of memory, but there are people who can reproduce anything they see in exquisite detail and others with photographic memory can simply project the memorized image on their internal movie screen and note details on it. A classic test for photographic memory was a very complicated picture of all the characters in "Alice in Wonderland". Viewers were asked to examine the image and memorize what they could of it. The picture was removed and they were asked how many rings were on the Cheshire Cat's tail. Those with photographic / eidetic memory gave the correct answer as 13.

Does the analog nature of our senses require analog storage of information? Analog items are notoriously difficult to store. If it is analog, why do the images in our mind remain consistent unless they are lost to brain trauma. If I remember having a blue car, why doesn't it start to get green if I have a fever?

I don't see any current theories illuminating any answers to these questions. If individual memories are stored in cells, how many memories can a human have?

Danmark · Post by **Danmark** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:14 am

amptramp wrote: Has anyone ever reached a limit to the amount he can remember? In particular, images require a large amount of memory, but there are people who can reproduce anything they see in exquisite detail and others with photographic memory can simply project the memorized image on their internal movie screen and note details on it. A classic test for photographic memory was a very complicated picture of all the characters in "Alice in Wonderland". Viewers were asked to examine the image and memorize what they could of it. The picture was removed and they were asked how many rings were on the Cheshire Cat's tail. Those with photographic / eidetic memory gave the correct answer as 13.

Does the analog nature of our senses require analog storage of information? Analog items are notoriously difficult to store. If it is analog, why do the images in our mind remain consistent unless they are lost to brain trauma. If I remember having a blue car, why doesn't it start to get green if I have a fever?

I don't see any current theories illuminating any answers to these questions. If individual memories are stored in cells, how many memories can a human have?

THere must be some limit, but I don't know what it is. I talked to a psychologist I'd hired as an expert. Over dinner we just chatted and the subject came up about memory deteriorating with age. She claimed that was overblown; that a more important consideration was the amount of knowledge one has stored in memory as one ages; that since there is more of it there, it takes longer to sift through to find the right memory. I have had experiences where, when asked a question about something that happened 40 years ago, I knew immediately that it was hopeless to even try to remember - it was simply too trivial an event and I had no reason to remember it. For some reason I tried to retrieve the memory anyway. I pictured the circumstances around the event and suddenly it played in my mind like a video tape and the pertinent phrase just came out. I was able to verify the accuracy of my recollection later.

Then there's the old joke: The aged professor tells a new student that he does not want to remember the student's name because if he does, he will have to forget somebody else.

amptramp · Post by **amptramp** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:03 am

Everything I have heard about memory is that it is like an Erlenmeyer flask (the triangular ones used in chemistry); the more you fill it, the less evaporates away.

I do have an interesting thought for you: your brain may not be the seat of memory - it may be the modem by which you can access memories. A modem doesn't have to change no matter how much memory you have. There is the concept of the Akhashic Records - the sum total of all memories and actions ever undertaken, which is supposedly the reservoir of karma and accessible to those who have broken the barrier of individuality.

And as for your example, think of the number of people who have "forgotten" something that they can later recall under hypnosis.