posted on Dec, 8 2008 @ 12:46 PM
reply to post by CX
Hello,
The brain is the most sophisticated computing device imaginable. It has the capacity to calculate over 100 trillion calculations per second. This rate
of speed is inconceivable and if it were not for conscious separation one would go insane from the shear amount of information being absorbed at any
given time during consciousness.
When you are in the deeper stages of sleep (stage 4 and REM) the mind is using subconscious as well as conscious memory. Anything you have ever;
heard, read, seen, felt, experienced, tasted, smelled, or in any other manner absorbed is available. Although you may have never realized this
information was present in your mind, you may not have even consciously heard the information; however, your brain has and it is logged into memory.
The problem with conscious access of memory is that it is dependent upon pathways, which usually come about through associations. The more
associations you have of a memory the easier recall becomes for it. If there are no associations, there are no pathways, and although the information
is stored, the conscious mind cannot retrieve it; this however, is not applicable to the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind has complete access
to every bit of information stored in the brain. If you want a visual on this try to imagine an interchange on a freeway, the more associations that
are present (inroads) the more the freeway is accessible. Some of these "roads" connect with other "roads" and thus the ability to remember a
story or past experience. Have you ever forgot some of the details of an event? This is because there are no connecting "roads" on this freeway. The
associations are either misplaced, or have degraded due to lack of recalling the information. Memory degrades when it is not accessed and the more
accessed it is, the more defined the pathways are and the better and more vivid the memory. Trauma although perhaps not recalled is deeply embedded in
some cases because the emotional attachment is great and thus it creates very defined pathways; although this emotion can also overload the circuit
and a "short" can occur and the memory can be completely gone from conscious recall due to that. Remember the brain works on electrical pulses and
just as with any electrical circuit, it can be overloaded, the stronger the emotion, the more electricity it produces. This is why if trauma is
remembered it can be very vivid and at the same time the emotion may be so strong that the circuit is burnt apart and it cannot be recalled. It is
easier to understand how these pathways work if one would compare them to a fence gate. If the gate is used often, it moves freely, if it is used very
rarely it may get rusty and not move at all. And the depth of memory can be related to a path through the Forrest, it it is used daily, it becomes
deeper and well defined and can easily be found even in the dark, but if no-one ever walks on this path it degrades and can even disappear from site,
the path is in fact still there, just grass and other debris has grown over it and it cannot be found. Memory works in much the same way.
When you are dreaming the mind has complete access to both the conscious and subconscious memory, and this could easily manifest itself as having
great unlocked intellect when recalling a dream and in fact this knowledge is there, just not accessible through the conscious mind. I hope this
helped you to understand this somewhat.