X-Message-Number: 17957 Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2001 08:22:22 -0500 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: CryoNet #17949 - #17956 Hi everyone (again): It seems that Cryonet is getting into subjects in which I am interested. The most interesting of these is by Scott Badger. First of all, I'd like to know his sources. I ask this because my own reading, in neuroscience rather than philosophy, suggests that we DO have several kinds of memories which differ distinctly in the brain regions which perform them, but do not claim to coincide at all with those given by the people he quotes. It's easy to come up with different kinds of memories. The important thing, if true, is to work out just how and why our thinking is organized in that way... and naturally, to prove that we do have such kinds of memories. There are different names for these different kinds, but basically they come down to the same things: ability to learn conditioning (many animals can do this: it is response to a new stimulus) ability to learn individual facts without remembering when (we all have memories, say of X tables) ability to learn occurrence of complex incidents and recount them (known as declarative memories) ability to learn and use one's experiences in new circumstances All of these occur in animals, with the simplest ones almost universal and the later ones relatively rare, only among primates and possibly a few others. They also have the feature that their type can be proven to exist not just in human beings (who unfortunately may make up all kinds of notions) but experimentally in animals. Furthermore, the brain regions engaged in these different kinds of memories are being worked out. Since I describe results of experimental work, it is possible that new varieties may be described. However I do not see in any of these the classes listed by any of the people listed by Scott Badger, and would wonder whether some of these may not be combinations of memory with other desires/wishes. If Scott looks for a neuroscience book published RECENTLY which discusses memory he'll find a discussion of memory on the lines I have just outlined. The exact terms for these memories won't always be the same. I will also add that I do not put on this list several kinds of short term memory. We do have short term memory for many more experiences than those we remember long term. We also have special short term memories to think about different subjects. Both of these are important but not long term, and in that sense (supposing it could be done, which is not obvious) we might lose those abilities and then have them restored by future medicine with no loss. Loss of memories of the kind I list above, however, means that we've lost some content of our experience. Best wishes and hopes for long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=17957