Memories make up our life experiences. In the Guardian article, The Story of the Self, the writer asks, “How many more of our memories are a story to suit the self?” Lose your memory and you lose a basic connection with who you are. When we look at how memories are constructed by the brain, the unreliability of memory makes perfect sense. The French Philosopher Michel Foucault says, “What we post on social media shapes the logic and experience of the act itself.” As he compares social media to being in a virtual panopticon. Facebook encourages us to share our thoughts and post something. Every so often, it saves your memories and shows them to you again.

Is this for our benefit?

We tend to filter out what we don’t care to remember. If being constantly visible online affects us psychologically, what does reliving memories do? Bad memories would be like reliving that trauma constantly. In the Black Mirror episode, The History of You, Liam experiences what it is like to be able to access his memories at any time. As a matter of fact, throughout their relationship they access memories when fighting in order to prove to the other that they were right. Liam grows obsessive and jealous when he notices his wife seemingly happy talking to Jonas, a former acquaintance according to her. He keeps replaying his wife’s interactions and focuses in on her facial expressions. He notices her body language and sees that she looks happy when she is talking to him and that she laughs at Jonas’s jokes, even when they aren’t funny. It takes a psychological toll on his mental health when he realizes his wife has been cheating on him and their daughter may not be his. In a drunken state, he confronts Jonas and his life has spiraled out of control. He even remarks, “this isn’t me.” In the final scene, he replays the good memories of his wife before removing the chip implanted.

At first, it might seem kind of convenient to have a way to access everyday interactions with people. I would never forget a name again and have the ability to recall certain conversations. I would never need to make a list to remember to pick something up at the grocery store. At what point would we just give up and completely rely on technology in order to access our brain functions. Currently, I use my iphone as a planner and a way of keeping all of my information in one place. I have not taken the Bored and Brilliant challenge because I feel too reliant on my phone. Not as much for social media, but for organization. I would find it difficult to keep track of everything otherwise and am aware that I may forget something. In many ways we are already reliant on technology for basic cognition. Without it, I feel like I would forget things I need to accomplish for the day.

How good is your memory without the use of technology?

I found these two paragraphs interesting:

For most Chinese people in China, WeChat is a sort of all-in-one app: a way to swap stories, talk to old classmates, pay bills, coordinate with co-workers, post envy-inducing vacation photose, buy stuff and get news. For the millions of members of China’s diaspora, it is the bridge that links them to the trappings of home, from family chatter to food photos.

As a cornerstone of China’s surveillance state, WeChat is now considered a national security threat in the United States. The Trump administration has proposed banning WeChat outright, along with the Chinese short video app TikTok. Overnight, two of China’s biggest internet innovations became a new front in the sprawling tech standoff between China and the United States.