2008.11.09 07:00 - Accessing our Memory

Adams Rubble was the guardian and has provided the comments

I arrived and another visitor was there who did not stay for an introduction to PaB. For most of the session this was a dialogue between Adelene and myself. We began by comparing our current states

Adams Rubble: Hello Adelene
Adelene Dawner: hi :)
Adams Rubble: How are you Adelene?
Adelene Dawner: Okay. Still a little jangly. Had a near panic attack last night. :(
Adams Rubble: I am sorry to hear it
Adelene Dawner: Eh, life.
Adelene Dawner: You?
Adams Rubble: I am good. Still tired :)
Adelene Dawner: :)
Adams Rubble: I had a reverse nightmare last night
Adams Rubble: I was having dreams of everything being harmonious
Adams Rubble: Then I woke up as I have been doing
Adams Rubble: And had a memory that was disharmonious in the wakened state
Adelene Dawner: mm. :(
Adams Rubble: It was a good thing overall
Adams Rubble: It was a memory I had forgotten and reminds me to pay more attnetion to other people's points of view
Adelene Dawner: ah. Not bad, then.
Adams Rubble: No (except for the usual sleepless period)
Adams Rubble: I am learning to live with that
Adams Rubble: :)
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm
Adams Rubble: Would it help at all to talk about what happened to you?
Adelene Dawner: I doubt it, but we can if you're curious.
Adams Rubble doesn't want to pry
Adams Rubble: Anything else you would like to talk about?
Adelene Dawner chuckles.
Adelene Dawner ponders...

The bell has a positive affect on Adelene

Bell: *ding*
Adelene Dawner: Oo, okay, note to self, taking a nine *is* useful when I'm jangly. Good to know.
Adams Rubble nods
Adelene Dawner: Well, they're not usually. So that's a difference.
Adams Rubble: Ah, they have been for me
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm. One of the ways I'm wired weird :) My usual hyperfocusy state is quite a bit like meditation, and interruping it with a bell to remind me to be in it doesn't work so well. :)
Adams Rubble: Yes, you were saying that the other day
Adams Rubble: So it is the starting point that is different for you then?
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm.
Adelene Dawner: It's odd, actually.

Wol joins us briefly and we continue on to our journey/voyage

Adams Rubble: Hello Wol :)
Adelene Dawner: I see the rest of the group working so hard to learn to do things that just come naturally to me... it's like, why are you doing that? I'm here, and it's not that much better here than it is where you are, as far as I can see. Though really I think it's the journey, more than the destination, that's useful.
Wol Euler: hello adams, ade
Adelene Dawner: 'lo Wol :)
Adams Rubble: The voyage is very important Adelene. I sometimes wonder about a destination. There are so many levels
Adams Rubble: I feel I am in the porcess of learning somehing very important right now
Adams Rubble: But I can't put it into words
Adams Rubble: yes
Adams Rubble: yet
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm :)
Adams Rubble: There is a sense of freedom to be had and with that maybe a certain sense of reponsibility
Adelene Dawner: Sounds good :)
Adams Rubble: Wol, how are you?
Wol Euler: distracted, sorry :-)
Wol Euler: slept badly and now somehow unable to think straight.
Adams Rubble can relate to that
Wol Euler: otherwise fine :)
Adams Rubble: that too
Wol Euler: yeah :)
Adams Rubble: Is there anything you would like to discuss Wol?
Adams Rubble not any help on slep
Adams Rubble: sleep
Adams Rubble: sleeping
Wol Euler smiles and shakes her head. Sorry, I am in no state for PaB today. I think I'll go back to bed and try again at the 1 pm session
Adams Rubble: good on how to stay awake
Wol Euler: sorry for the interruption. Hope to see you later.
Adams Rubble: Ah, I hope you feel better
Wol Euler: thanks. bye for now
Adams Rubble: bye Wol
Wol Euler: bye ade, bye adams

....and Wol departs and multitasking and how the mind is used, and ideas are accesssed, in the process

Adams Rubble reaches over and rubs Adelene's ears
Bell: *ding*
Adelene Dawner considers.
Adelene Dawner: Yes I'm on vacation, but being this unfocused doesn't seem like a good thing.
Adams Rubble: Your statements have seemed very clear
Adelene Dawner: Yeah, when they aren't that's a sign of a whole other set of issues. Lack of depth is teh sign of distractedness. :)
Adams Rubble: Ah
Adams Rubble: Maybe what I was trying to say is that you are docusing on what we say but maybe that is the same thing
Adams Rubble: focusing
Adelene Dawner: mm.
Adelene Dawner: interesting interaction of brainstates, here.
Adelene Dawner: Being jangly leads to not having length-of-focus for detailed explanations, but the general distractedness appears dominant over that - I'm not trying to do detailed/deep, but when I do try, I find I havef trouble.
Adelene Dawner: Been distracted longer than I've been jangly, too. Two separate issues.
Adams Rubble: I find it hard to keep everything in my head. It is easier to focus on small pieces at a time
Adams Rubble: I don;t know if that relates at all
Adelene Dawner: It's true, but I'm used to it. It's pretty rare for me to try to do two things at once. Doing parts of two different things sequentially, yeah, I do that and it passes for multitasking, but trying to keep data from one in active memory while I do the other doesn't work, so I do the sequential-bits thing in such a way that I don't have to. (Taking cues from the environment is key, there.)
Adams Rubble: Multitasking is not what it is cracked up to be :)
Adelene Dawner: Very much agreed.
Adams Rubble: But I see your point
Adelene Dawner: From what I've read, that 'keeping data in active memory for both things' is part of the definition of multitasking, which is why I said that what I do passes for multitasking rather than that it is multitasking. It still has its downside, tho.
Bell: *ding*
Adams Rubble: Computers can allow for multitasking in that we can do something else while the computer is processing. I don;t think I can seriously think about two ideas at once
Adams Rubble: That's more in line of your sequential multitasking
Adelene Dawner: mmm... what you say is true but that's not quite what I meant. I don't think anybody can literally think about two ideas at once.
Adams Rubble: whew!
Adams Rubble: :)
Adelene Dawner: :)
Adelene Dawner: Let me see if I can explain it better...
Adelene Dawner: Actually, I tend to compare the relevant thing to RAM. There's a noticable qualitative difference between knowledge that's in deep storage, and knowledge that's on the surface or 'in RAM'.
Adams Rubble: Yes!
Adelene Dawner: There's also a limit to how much can be in RAM at once. There doesn't seem to be a limit to the deep storage.
Adams Rubble: Yes!
Adelene Dawner: When I 'multitask', I don't store things from one idea in RAM while I'm thinking about the other. Instead, I rely on context cues from my environment to bring any relevant data up from deep storage repeatedly.
Adelene Dawner: Like right now. I have a web page up on my other screen - I can see that out of the corner of my eye - but I can't tell you what's on it without looking, even though I was usingit less than 5 minutes ago.
Adams Rubble: I rarely multi-task when I am in PaB
Adams Rubble: I am not sure what I do but in discussions here I often am limited to what is in my RAM. I forget what is easily accessible in my deep storage
Adelene Dawner nods. "Most people seem to do that."
Adams Rubble: leading me to sometimes say silly things :)
Adelene Dawner: Hm, that's an interesting line of thought...
Adelene Dawner: I tend to do the opposite. I don't trust my RAM for anything that's not extremely temporary. I pull stuff from deep storage a lot... and I don't know what I'm pulling from deep storage 'till I get it, only yhat it's filed under a related category. It's quite frequent, because of that, that I don't knowwhat I'm going to say 'till I say it, including sometimes not knowing the end of a sentence 'till I'm halfway through said sentence. That sounds an awful lot like Pema's 'getting out of the way of Being'.
Adams Rubble: Also your cataloging system is a librarian's delight :)
Adelene Dawner grins. "Synesthesia has its uses." ^.^

Here we were interrupted briefly by a newbie looking for someone who spoke German. It is the end of the house and we touch on memory before we go

Bell: *ding*
Adams Rubble: Well it has been very good talking with you this morning :)
Adelene Dawner: mmhmm :) Thanks for putting up with my distractedness.
Adams Rubble: I am going to be thinking about how I use my RAM?
Adelene Dawner: ^.^ Let me know what you discover, I'm always curious about that kind of thing. ^.^
Adams Rubble: My deep storage is a hopless mess and I doubt it can be organized
Adams Rubble: It is more like a barrel than a filing cabinet
Adams Rubble: :)
Adams Rubble: I reach in and am just surprised at what comes out :)
Adelene Dawner laughs. "Maybe if I can figure out more about how I do it, I can teach you. No clue if that's even possible, though. But yeah, I just reach in, too."
Adelene Dawner: It's not about having it organized. It's about knowing what you're looking for and being able to specify that in a useful way.
Adams Rubble: Hmmm
Adelene Dawner: in an 'ask the right question' sense.
Adams Rubble: Well I have something else to think about during those extra hours in the early morning
Adelene Dawner: :)
Adelene Dawner: Well, have a good day, Adams.
Adams Rubble: You too Adelene. Thanks for the disucssion
Adelene Dawner: ^.^
Adams Rubble: bye for now