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記憶と記録、どちらが大切?
日記をつければ、過去の失敗に学ぶことができる。一方、何でも記録することは
記憶力減退につながるという声もある。
筆者は最近、新形態の「日記」を始めたが…。
Remembering
Generally, it is not a good idea to look back over one's shoulder while moving forward into a new space. If we don't keep both eyes trained forward, we might bang our shins on a bit of furniture blocking the doorway, step on someone's cat, or even fall into a gaping hole in the floor that might be in front of us.
But what is common sense in our ordinary daily lives does not apply to our journey through time. Like when we cross into a new year, for instance. While looking forward as we take our first steps into 2004, it is best to cast our eyes back over the previous twelve months. That way, we can refer to those experiences as a guide, replicating successes when possible while side-stepping new obstacles and pitfalls that are similar to those we have already seen.
Of course, when looking back in time there is a limit to how far back, and to how clearly we can see: our memory. Traditionally, people have augmented their ability to recollect the past by jotting down notes about various events in a journal. But does making a written record of events really help to improve our memory?
Surprisingly enough, when writing was first invented, not everyone was crazy about the idea. According to the tale as told by Plato and more recently by Umberto Eco, when presented with the new technology the Egyptian king of the time criticized it as something that would weaken his subjects' ability to memorize. People would no longer train their minds to remember events, he reasoned, if they were to begin writing down their memories.
Would humans be better off recording the world using nothing more than their little gray cells? Alas, as someone who writes for a living, I do not have the luxury of finding out by experiment. However, I may be able to learn something by taking journal-keeping to a new extreme. Recently, I have begun to use my cellphone to take snapshots of the diverse people, things and places that I encounter in my daily life, and draft a few words to go with each image. My hand-held then sends the data to the LaszloMoblog, the website I maintain for that purpose, where the entry is displayed for all to see. The whole process takes a minute or two.
Unlike traditional journals, there is no need for pen and paper, nor even for a computer with access to the Internet. I just point the phone, snap the shot, bobble my thumb up and down a bit, and record the moment.
If LaszloMoblog ever came to the attention of the pharaohs of old, I'm sure they would accuse me of storing in cyberspace memories that might as well have been kept in my mind. They would have a point, and I will even concede that the ancient Egyptian, on average, probably had the greater capacity for memorization. But thanks to the evolution of "writing" and my self-imposed obligation to maintain a newfangled journal, I do more than just remember things. I find myself "discovering" an increasing number of noteworthy objects, places and moments in my path, and communicating about them with people all over the world. True, I have trouble remembering what day it is. But I'd say the trade-off is worth it.
Shukan ST: Dec. 26, 2003
(C) All rights reserved
- look back over one's shoulder
- 過去を振り返る
- If we don't keep both eyes trained forward
- ずっと両目で前を見ていないと
- bang
- ぶつける
- shins
- すね
- furniture
- 家具
- 〜 blocking the doorway
- 入り口をふさいでいる〜
- step on 〜
- 〜につまずく
- gaping
- 大きく開いた
- common sense
- 常識
- cast our eyes back over 〜
- 後ろの〜に目を向ける
- That way
- そうすることで
- refer to 〜 as 〜
- 〜を〜とする
- guide
- 指針
- replicating 〜
- 〜を繰り返して
- while side-stepping 〜
- 〜を避けながら
- pitfalls
- 落とし穴
- have augmented
- 補ってきた
- jotting down
- 書き留めること
- journal
- 日記
- Surprisingly enough
- 驚くべきことに
- not everyone was crazy about 〜
- 皆が皆〜に大喜びしたわけではなかった
- Plato
- プラトン(ギリシア時代の哲学者)
- Umberto Eco
- ウンベルト・エーコ(イタリアの哲学者・記号学者・小説家)
- subjects'
- 臣民の
- memorize
- 記憶する
- reasoned
- 結論付けた
- be better off 〜
- 〜の方がよい
- using nothing more than 〜
- だけしか使わずに
- little gray cells
- 脳細胞のこと
- Alas
- 悲しいかな
- by taking journal-keeping to a new extreme
- 日記を付ける作業を最新の形態にすることで
- cellphone
- 携帯電話
- diverse
- いろいろな
- draft a few words to go with 〜
- 〜に添える短文を書く
- hand-held
- 携帯電話
- entry
- 写真と文章
- point the phone
- 携帯電話を(被写体に)向ける
- bobble my thumb up and down
- 親指でボタンをあちこち押す
- pharaohs of old
- 古代エジプトのファラオ
- accuse 〜 of 〜
- 〜を〜のかどで責める
- storing
- 貯め込むこと
- cyberspace
- 仮想空間
- might as well 〜
- 〜した方がよい
- concede
- 認める
- evolution
- 進化
- self-imposed obligation
- 自ら課した義務
- newfangled
- 最新の
- noteworthy
- 注目に値する
- trade-off is worth it
- 記憶する代わりに記録を残しておくだけのことはある