How Memory Contributes in Our Everyday Lives

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Recommended: Importance of memory to who we are

Already by the age of two, humans are able to think back and retrieve memories of a specific event. Memorization is an important aspect of our everyday lives as it aids us things such as learning and recognition. Communication with others by either speech or written words is only made possible by recalling words, grammar rules, and how to form sentences. Everything would be new to us every time we saw it without memory. A computer, a chair, pizza would all be unfamiliar to us. Memory is vital to our overall existence and helps us to cope with everyday life.

Collective memories, memories we share together as a society, help us not to repeat past mistakes and to improve conditions to try to prevent horrible events from occurring again. We all share the memory of 9/11, and most remember where they were when this tragedy befell. Due to it, the United States has created new precautions to hinder these activities such as tracking American communication (e-mails, phone calls, internet activity, etc.), creating national defense programs, and creating the Department of Homeland Security. Another memory we share together is WWII, how The British Prime Minister Chamberlain signed the Munich Agreement to give Hitler the Sudetenland. Hitler said he would stop invading if this was given to him, but he continued the illicit activities three months later. This taught us that a dictator cannot be appeased, and by remembering this, we can better cope with future dictators.

Along with collective memories, we learn from our own personal memories as well. When humans make mistakes, they remember the repercussions of it and know not to do it again. By putting metal in the microwave and examining the sparks, we know from then on that we...

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...sulting in “Solar Plexus, Instep, Nose, Groin”.

In conclusion, memory is a vital part of our everyday lives. We need it to read people’s expressions, which also shows us how to act. Memory aids us in learning as we use mnemonic devices for retrieval and to quickly answer simple questions. Another way it helps us is with communication, for without memorization, we wouldn’t be able to form sentences. Finally, we use memory to learn from our and other people’s mistakes. By watching someone fail, we know not to repeat their actions without first changing a factor of it. Memory is an important factor in our existence for without it, we would not be able to function as we normally do.

Sources

• http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/12/22/9638211-first-memories-may-happen-as-early-as-age-2

• http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-u-s-government-changes-since-911.php

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