Page 63 - A Soldiers Exposition

CONTROLLING CONSCIOUS MEMORY

I acknowledge it is not considered a memory while it is conscious. Or is it?

Most soldiers find methods to block or numb the experiences by turning to chemical substance abuse,
alcohol abuse, violence, denial, and for those who can’t get their heads on straight suicide is the only way
out.

Let’s read a little about memory.

I know, I know, but I promise it is instructive and I believe it supports my theory that we can control our
conscious memory to a degree. If you would rather call it conscious thought, I will accept that, but to think
about a deep-rooted event requires memory recall.

What if you do not want to remember? Controlling conscious memory is the guardian.

Source: http://www.human-memory.net/types_episodic.html

EPISODIC, SEMANTIC, and AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY

Episodic Memory represents our memory of experiences and specific events in time in a serial form, from
which we can reconstruct the actual events that took place at any given point in our lives…

Semantic Memory is a more structured record of facts, meanings, concepts, and knowledge about the
external world that we have acquired. It refers to general factual knowledge, shared with others and
independent of personal experience…

Semantic Memories may once have had a personal context, but now stand alone as simple knowledge. It,
therefore, includes such things as types of food, capital cities, understanding of mathematics, etc.
Much of semantic memory is abstract and relational and is associated with the meaning of verbal
symbols.

Autobiographical Memory refers to a memory system consisting of episodes recollected from an
individual’s own life, often based on a combination of episodic memory (personal experiences and
specific objects, people and events experienced at particular times and places) and semantic memory
(general knowledge and facts about the world).

Flashbulb Memory: “One specific type memory is known as a "flashbulb memory", a highly detailed,
exceptionally vivid “snapshot” of a moment or circumstances in which surprising and consequential (or
emotionally arousing) news was heard. Examples:

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the terrorist bombings on 9/11, etc.

Such memories are believed by some to be highly resistant to forgetting, possibly due to the strong
emotions that are typically associated with them.

However, a number of studies also suggest that flashbulb memories are actually not especially accurate,
despite apparently being experienced with great vividness and confidence.”