I find that young children have many adequate and proficient answers to big questions. Is knowledge stored and passed on like DNA?
Deat Holly,
I do not think much of the idea of stored knowledge. I remember now that I stayed with my brother 5 days ago. Where is this knowledge stored? Does it make sense to even ask this questions? If our knowledge is stored in our mind/brain, it is not stored in the same way that our books are stored in our office. When the former is the case, we are speaking metaphorically, In the latter case we are speaking literally. As Wittgenstein once remarked caution should be taken when we transfer a concept (e.g., stored knowledge) from one context or language-game (books stored in our office) to another concept (knowledge stored in our mind/brain),
I do not think that humans store knowledge as they store characteristics in their DNA. Before being "stored"our knowledge has to be learned or aquiered. In contradistinction, our DNA is inherited, not acquired.
I hope I has got your question and that this helps.
Besre regards,
Orlando
Dear Holly Warren
We need to do MUCH more research on the Memories (the several types, working together, which have already been well-defined). While there are excellent findings there, researchers have barely begun to "scratch the surface" and we desperately need to know more.
But we can see this (THEM) as an answer to the question about knowledge storage. Indeed, the Memories (including much through working memory) do the lion's share of contextualizing our experience; AND also: when you look at the definitions of the various Memories, it becomes clear that the Memories are also even more: They are EXPERIENCE ITSELF (by their definitions). If all this is so, it follows that the Memories are the most appropriate "places" for knowledge and ability storage (storage of ALL main parts of experience, actions, past behavior patterns, and developed skills [ or the fractions of each that need to be stored ] ) -- since they are always "there" and operative constantly in our conscious life. One might say that nothing needs memory more than the Memories.
reading "Deviate" by Beau Lotto is helping getting some facts and more questions.
"...the human brain is a physical representation of the history of trail and error from evolution to learning..."(Lotto, 2017) he states that it carries our story of knowledge from the early days to now. Encoded circuits?
When I asked my young students what the brain looked like on child drew it in almost perfection and I was assured he had not been exposed to an image of it before the day he drew it. How did it happen?
Dear Orlando
I don't think it is so simple and straightforward.
Why have humans been around for so long?
Why have we advanced at such pace?
How far have we gone in studying the mind?
How open minded do we need to be to find questions, possible solutions and further inspiration?
We found a way to map the DNA but there is much more to discover....we need to develop further to ask the right questions that will lead us to new discoveries. For the moment they are embryos.
Has anyone read
The Cauldron of Memory: Retrieving Ancestral Knowledge and Wisdom By Raven Grimassi
Thanks
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