Understanding the Connection of Memory to Personality, Essay Example

Memory serves a great part of whoever a person becomes. Considerably, memory serves a great deal of impact on how a person develops and how he becomes responsive to situations that come his way. It could be understood that it is through this process that one develops an understanding towards life thus being able to determine right from wrong in a more personal context. Learning about the most basic and the most crucial points of life could be attributed to the creation and development of memory (Locke, 24). This is why it is often assumed that one’s memory takes on the actual pattern of personal development one takes into account.

Question is, would altering one’s memory with another’s specifically create a distinct indication on the changes that one has to undergo in relation to personality determination and development? In an experiment [hypothetical], it is visualized that Miley Cyrus and Barack Obama undergo a brain surgery that is geared towards altering particular parts of their brains that are both dedicated to their memories. In the end of the surgery, the doctor refers to Miley Cyrus’ body as hers and said that the operation was successful; question is, would the physical success of the operation be the same when it comes to evaluating what or who Miley Cyrus has actually become given that she has already new memories in her brain? To understand the context of the connective factor between memory and personality, the writings of John Locke, Bernard Williams and Oliver Sacks shall be used as determinable basis for the assumptions and explanations that shall be presented in this paper.

Memory as Mark of One’s Being

Locke might argue that Miley would still remain as herself since memory could be considered separate from the person.Locke specifically argues that a person’s experiences serves as the foundation of how he becomes the person that he has developed into. For instance, a particular experience creates memories; it is from such memories that particular learned points come from. With such memories developed, the human brain tries to process information and relate the new memory with the old memories as if creating a chain (as quoted by Bennet, 109). This is how the point of relativity among memories and human understanding is formed. It could be understood that the human brain’s function is dedicated to making it possible for a person to learn more; and from such learning develop a being that would fit the way he wants to deal with situations that come his way.

Williams might say otherwise as he would specifically impose that Barack Obama would be a more dominant character especially if his role could be the altering factor in Miley’s brain during the operation. Williams argue that memories are the actual elements that make up an individual’s behavioral pattern. The way one develops a specific pattern of thinking introduces him to new courses of understanding especially relating to his personal understanding of himself and the way his environment tends to affect him personally (Williams, 185). Unlike Locke, who imposes that memory is a determinable factor of being, Williams account for memories as the actual building block of one’s personality.

Sacks on the other hand might say that Miley’s brain function would actually decide whether or not she takes Obama’s character or if she would retain her own. In his writing, Oliver Sacks tries to identify well with the topic through citing a case that he had worked with in the past. He presents the connection of memories to the kind of personality one takes into account. Considerably, Sacks makes an implicative mark on how one’s memories could actually alter the person that he is. For instance, his patient Jimmy, an old man, changes his behavior and presentation of details based on what he remembers and what his brain perceives as current and past memories; even his actuations change based on the said memory-alterations (Sacks, 1-2). In a way, the presentation of this particular case accounts to support what Williams impose on his discussions and implications about the human memory. The direct connection one has with his memories develops a strong impact on the choice of being one tends to embrace.

In context, it could be realized from the actual living account Sacks shares in his writing that life and personality may be two different elements of human existence; nevertheless, they are intertwined and they coexist to determine the path of personal development that one takes into account. Connection between memories and how they shape the being of an individual specifically determines the role they take when it comes to identifying the course of being that they hope to become. For instance, a child say that she wants to be a doctor someday; however, such aspiration might change given the chance by which she gets involved in an accident or she sees someone who needs medical help. Gaining such memory, it could motivate her to pursue her dreams or get done with it, depending on how the memory impacted her or how she was able to interpret the value of such new memory to what she believed in the past about being a doctor. In a way, memories [about the past] helps one determine the future he is to take.

To note, if all the discussions of all three authors and philosophers are to be taken into consideration, the operation would produce a new person in Miley Cyrus; an individual that is dependent on the amalgamation of the memories shared by two very different persons. The brain, randomly picking what memory to use, might alter the individual being of Obama and Miley and create a new person who is interested in both politics and entertainment. Someone who is more tamed as to what Miley is now due to the leveling aspect of what Obama’s professional and political background might have on her being.

Case Discussion [Miley Operation]

Given that Miley has been given a part of Barack Obama’s memory, the one to wake up from the surgery might not be completely Miley. Her memories, having been altered, are likely to create responsive connections between each other. Barack Obama, being a politician at heart and a person taking the highest seat in the American political office, is expected to have some memories relatively connected to human affairs and national welfare. In this case, the only way to understand the alteration effects on Miley would be through asking her particular common questions she might know of. With such questions presented, the brain would function as a machine that sews together the memories that could be inter-related. Based on Locke’s writing, the brain tends to connect one memory to another information that is stored in the brain and make a distinct value that makes such data factors considered as a unified value.

Through this process, Miley’s popular status as an artist might be intertwined with the popular status of Obama as a politician. Note that when it comes to connecting memories, the brain tries to find a common ground that makes information relatively directed towards a common platform of understanding. With such connection, Miley might perceive herself as a popular artist and/or politician who supports human affairs, national welfare along with the desire to determine her role in the entertainment industry. Her behavior or her way of presenting herself to the public could be assumed through the discussion presented by Williams. Depending on what memory her brain chooses to set aside as her actual being, she would respond and present herself to the public based on such data. If her brain picks the memory that leans more on being a popular artist, then she might behave as so, but with specific connection to how she views the political aspects of her being.

Conclusion

Through this discussion, it is imposed that memory takes a great part on how a person develops. The hypothetical surgery used as a basis for this analytical paper specifically provides a vivid presentation on what value memory plays in the process of determining the personality that one develops into. The connection of events, experiences and beliefs of a person all constitute to create a memory that would determine each individual’s path towards personal development. In a way, it is through this that the determination of one’s being becomes highly considered to have a distinct impact on how a person chooses the kind of life that would fit his wants and his behavior.

Works Cited

Bennet, J. (2001). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding; Book II: Ideas.

Williams, B. The Self and the Future.

Sacks, O. The Lost Mariner.

Lecture Notes: Presentation. Personal Identity, Rationality, and Morality.  Philosophy 262.