The significance of the memory hole is the connection of the future to the past. Lacking a time machine, you cannot alter the reality of the past. However, the human body has a finite lifespan and human memory is even more limited than that. What you cannot change in reality, you can change in perception. If you cannot remember it, then did it happen?

Have you ever come across one of the false memories in your mind? Memory is an important part of who we are. Differences in the way that we recall things are at the heart of many conflicts. Do you know the anniversary of your first date? Where did you go? What song was playing in the background?

Anybody who is working to avoid temptation, or fighting an addiction, can tell you that you cannot leave a hole in your mind. Your mind notices what you are trying to avoid and will put it back into the hole. In fact, the focus of trying to remove something from your thoughts will make you more likely to notice what you are trying to forget. To remove one thing from your mind, something else must take its place. Real memories are replaced by memories that fill in the holes that your mind comes across.

To understand the memory hole, you have to understand why memory holes are being dug. Intelligence binds us to a specific set of reactions to a defined set of stimuli. People can be controlled by controlling their perception of reality. You do not produce propaganda as much as you aim to produce propagandists. Intentional memory holes are the removal of inconvenient facts in order to produce convenient fantasies.

That is not to say that all of your faulty recollections are the result of the conspiracy that you know is not really out here. Most faded memories are exactly what they appear to be. I would not get much of a tirade by writing about those. What kind of a stand up philosopher would I be then? Conspiracy theories are good for business.

If you break the link between the past and the future, you crack the foundation of the present. About 2000 years ago, an important child was born. Most of us, who know the story, also know about the three kings who visited that particular manger on that specific night. What we do not recall is that only shepherds, aside from his parents, actually saw the king of kings in the manger. This is a minor departure from fact in history.

What if a nation founded on distrust of centralized authority could be convinced that a war between the forces of centralization and decentralization was a conflict over a historical footnote like slavery? When people fail to remember, they lose the ability to defend. You first dig a hole in the memory by omission of facts and cover the hole with the manufacture of feelings. After that, future generations will be left with only bad answers to good questions. One push and people fall into the memory hole.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Mulligan Adventures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.