We die twice in this lifetime. The first death comes when the last breath leaves our body, when we shuffle free of the mortal coil. The next, and most important, is when all memory of us is gone, when we are no longer even an errant thought left to float on the breeze. That is undoubtedly the worst death, the one that is lasting and cannot ever be rescinded. To be remembered by those who knew of one’s acts, their life, and their deeds, is a type of immortality that is likely the closest that humankind will ever come to everlasting life, and one that is vitally important. Without the capacity for memory humans are nothing but a random collection of moments that happen from one day to the next, happenstance given form and motion.
Some would argue against this, claiming that the body, or the soma, is far more important for the mere fact that our mind, part of the soma, is absolutely necessary to the function of creating memory. But others would argue that the psyche and pneuma, the soul and spirit, of mankind are equally important if not more so. Which part does mankind rely upon the most? Some, those who argue for the importance of memory, might well hold that the reason for being is to remember, to learn from what has come before, and to build upon that knowledge so as to make certain that those who come after are not bound by the day to day decisions that humans must continually make. It is the mere thought that without memory we are little more than biological machines without any true purpose that supports this argument.
As complex as the human body is though, memory is even more an enigma, an elusive breeze that changes as it collides with one remembrance after another. Where one memory picks up, another can leave off, but where one leaves off, another might instead meld and mesh together, confusing the details and particulars of a certain memory or sequence of events, much as occurred with Mr. Douglas Quail. The hapless Mr. Quail as so convinced that he was a secret agent, that his memory had been purposefully tampered with, and in regards to the story it had. But this is where memory breaks down, regardless of its importance or the attempts of those to keep it.
Be it three days ago or three years, one would be hard pressed to remember every specific detail about any one given event, no matter how special, that happened in their lives. It is the brain’s way of assimilating every little bit of input it receives, a failsafe of sorts that keeps the mind from becoming overloaded and therefore useless to itself and its owner. While memory is quite important, not to mention vital, it is still imperfect for a perfect reason. Without our memories mankind would have little if any reason to exist as we do now, and in fact our purpose might well be forgotten with each new sunrise. Life would likely be a series of events that take place in no sequential order, without any true rhyme or reason, and would be as random as it seemed to be in the earliest days of our race’s existence. Before there was memory there was little else but raw, emotion-driven instinct.
The body is an engine, a puzzle, and a tool to be used, much as can be seen in Johnny Mnemonic. Within this text it is seen that the body is little more than a useful tool for information, a vessel for goods that will lead to services. In the case of several characters, including Molly Million and the Lo-Teks, the body is but an instrument to be experimented on, augmented, and given to new capacities and abilities that it could not accomplish on its own.
In other words, the body is a model, a thing of malleable flesh and bone that can be played with like a toy in the hands of a child that has no true boundaries when it comes to what is right or wrong. Memory is far more elusive than flesh, it is harder to fake, harder to augment, and harder still to simply erase by force of will alone. But for all that it is strong, it is still very, very fragile as well. A physical ailment such as Alzheimer’s can wipe away memory with but a small amount of effort, leaving no trace upon the psyche of anything that an individual might have considered important.
There will likely always be memories that a body will remember, important, everyday remembrances such as waking up, remembering to breathe, and even brushing one’s teeth. But deep, lasting memory is something that is fleeting, and cherished far more than most things in life. If given a choice many people might very well elect to keep the fondest memories of their lives over any and all riches they could imagine. Memories are what can be taken with us, they are the ethereal part of our being that can travel anywhere, be at our beck and call at a moment’s notice, and even make us feel human.
Without memory it is likely that humanity would not exist, or would soon enough cease to exist. Such a bold statement demands explanation, but also introspection. Where would you be today if you’d not remembered what had happened yesterday, or what was supposed to happen tomorrow? Where would your feet take you, and why?
Memory is ingrained into us as a species, a piece of who we are and everything we do, from simple muscle function to more important decisions that will carry us down a lifetime of lefts and rights that will eventually determine how and where we end up. There is no one word or even one sentence that can explain the importance of memory, as it is a collective from which our race pulls with each and every breath. Without memory we are lost in a wilderness that we will not understand, thanks to our ineptitude to recall what it can do, and how we can interact with it.
It is easy to look past the unseen and claim that what is seen is more important, that the vessel is far more substantial and therefore more crucial. But what is the vessel without the substance that goes into it? If not for memory humanity is little more than empty vessels waiting to act, and then act again without any reason, purpose, or means of moving forward. Memory is what shapes us, it is what has built civilizations, and what has built our people into what we are now. Without the capacity for memory it is very likely that we might all be mud- or cave-dwelling Neanderthals that never managed to reach the simplest of goals that became of the greatest import so long ago. Without memory humanity might well have never evolved, as there would be no need. After all, there is little to no purpose to remember anything if it’s going towards no discernible purpose.
The body is the shell, the vessel into which was long ago poured an essence that we are still attempting to fully understand. Be it a divine source or a simple matter of adaptation to our surroundings, mankind’s memory has become long and increasingly complex. While it is not always the most reliable of sources, it is without a doubt one of the greatest repositories of knowledge and experience available, and it is still growing to this day. Without the memory of who we were, who we are would not be possible.
Works Cited
Gibson, William. “Johnny Mnemonic.”: 1-14. PDF file.
“We Can Remember it for You Wholesale.” The Philip K. Dick Reader: 305-322. PDF file.
