John Fish B.Sc.
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Tenby Publishers
Tenby Publishers Memory Project
INTERIM REPORT
September 2020
[Two years on]
OBSERVATIONS
1. Storage of memory in subconscious would seem to be via repetition with the use of a sound-recorder enabling that memory to be word-perfect; there sometimes being a tendency to substitute words one would normally use in one's normal usage for the writer's original. Personally, I'm memorising in small doses of minutes, typically once a day, over a period of weeks, or months even, in order to make an audio recording that is word perfect without hesitation. As in an educational scenario, memories degrade over time but can be restored via the original process. To use an analogy of people running: presumably actors are the elite professional atheletes whereas I'm more the jogger. But the end-game is the same: to complete the course. Presumably, with repetition a repairable neural network is being developed or, again too invoking an analogy, something akin to a muscle is being developed which unless exercised will waste over time. 2. Memory is required to be memorised twice in the sense that to be recited via speech with fluency, which could be defined as flow without hesitation and grasping at what comes next, the memory is required to be streamed (as is data from cloud to computer) from subconscious to conscious in that the complete poem is usually of too great a magnitude to be appreciated in the conscious as a discrete single entity. This is an order of magnitude greater in degree of difficulty than memorising something in the sense of writing it down with the option on reflecting of its accuracy and so correcting any perceived mistakes. 3. The bottom-line being mind exercise, performed through reciting aloud the memorised poem, analogous to physical or bodily exercise where a learnt exercise routine is performed with or without the use of some sort of exercise machine or apparatus. But each recitation, by deliberation or accident is going to be at least slightly different (if only due to the actual complexity of the physical sequence one's speech production apparatus will be required to go through, one's state of health and well-being, and factors such as accoustics) or by design can be significantly different yielding scope for experimentation. Incidentally, that there cannot be said to be a correct recitation is easily verified by the numerous examples on YouTube of professional actors performing iconic Shakespearean soliloquies. Some twenty years or so ago I went on a LAMDA evening course and the professional actor/play director George Rawlins who conducted it emphasised the importance of the interpretation of the words and to consider punctuation as being of a secondary or advisory nature. 4. Is this type of mind exercise actually beneficial? [The context to the question being that as an OAP I can appreciate the idea of indulging in mind exercises to combat mental degradation with this particular idea appealing to me rather than the numerous alternatives, whereas would a younger person enhance their mental powers?] As with regular physical exercise, then just as the body seems to develop an appetite for said physical exercise so does the brain for this (so that continuation of the Tenby Publishers Memory Project is not presently problematical). Not that memorisation can be performed at will but when the brain is in a receptive mood or state. Often that means early morning times are good, evening times bad; presumably reflecting energy states in brain together with its chemical and hormonal complexity which presumably is in a constant state of flux. In the past I have always been aware that memorising concurrently with alcohol consumption is counterproductive but for a fair number of years I've been teetotal so am unable to comment on this aspect or any other form of drug consumption for that matter. Attempting to force the brain to perform, say later in the day or evening, often results in drowsiness or dozing off. Recitation of learnt poems (which could be considered as output as memorisation is to input) is much less restrictive and can performed at any odd time here and there, frequently the thought just enters the conscious about reciting a particular poem, and I've never attempted to establish some sort of regime approach. Though I have on occasion revised by making audio recordings to pick-up on any inaccuracies that may have crept in. 5. Words evoke emotions and emotions evoke words, hence the need to be word-perfect in order to attempt to appreciate and reflect a poet's musings. To use an analogy, it's only when the pieces fall into place and the jigsaw is complete in one's subconscious, that the image of what the poet is projecting from the poet's mind to the recipient's is complete. Obviously we're entering here the realm of the artistic but there is an interesting aside to this. For if we assume that the poet has a greater understanding of language in the sense of vocabulary and grammar than the recipient then the poet is in effect playing a mentoring role. So if we follow this line of thought then will the poet, due to the interaction of words and emotions, be affecting or modifying the recipient's emotional responses? 6. At the heart of the poet's craft is the ability to express the maximum amount of information in the minimum number of words. Whereas within the media the tendency is to waffle: the factual information being conveyed is often quite minimal, witness COVID-19 and BREXIT, with most of the reporting being of speculations and opinions. So rather amusingly the poet could be said to be concentrating the mind whereas the journalist is confusing it. Concentration is synonymous with learning, is synonymous with emotional stability, is synonymous with the psychological state of optimism against its antonymic state of depression. So if we follow this line of thought then will the poet be affecting or modifying the recipient's psychological state? 7. Poets often communicate their musings, as we all are able to do, via figures of speech. Figures of speech enable us to convey complex thoughts, and or emotions, in a few simple easily understood words. This enables fast accurate communication but only if both parties share the same understanding of the figure of speech. This problem or dilemma comes to the forefront of the recipient's conscious thoughts when attempting to translate from what is a foreign to one's native language. A literal translation can be non-sensible reflecting that the inhabitants of differing communities, states, countries, perhaps worlds even, aren't necessarily going to share the same set of values, emotional responses and perceptions of reality. 8. As with any hobby or interest it does seem to develop a life of its own in that you're always on the look-out for the next poem to attempt to scale, as if the poems are mental mountains and you're a mental mountaineer. It's always satisfying, and one gets a real sense of achievement when the word-perfect fluent audio recording is made, but that's the icing on the cake really with the important thing being the bottom line: the mind exercise. But there is a timelessness to it and once the first blush of infatuation subsides it becomes part of your life routine and as with any hobby there is a meaningless to it along the lines of it being in itself rather pointless and even if you attempt another mountain peak there are an infinity over the horizon. But saying that you don't have to do it and I find its a bit like my tinnitus, it's always there but ignorable. (Incidentally, in my case, a good analogous comparison for tinnitus would be the simulated crowd effects at COVID affected televised football matches). 9. The mission statement of the Tenby Publishers Memory Project is to investigate the event horizon of the interface between the written and spoken word so that all that can be reasonably concluded is that the project is still in its initial or exploratory phase. It began following a BBC Radio 4 broadcast entitled Gyles Brandreth's Poetry By Heart which is currently available on the BBC iPlayer (follow imbeded hyperlink) and includes amongst its contributors Judi Dench. The initial poem attempted being Sea Fever by John Masefield with the sensorial experience of a real-time recitation without aid from memory, rather than the passivity of merely reading or listening, being the spark of inspiration for this project. Should you desire to instigate your own explorations then this might be a point of origin that similarly calls out to you ... if you can hear the crashing of the waves and the cries of the seagulls and taste the saltiness of the air as the spray tingles your face then your voyage of discovery may already have launched ...Sea Fever by John Masefield
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