schweblog

A pretty cool article recently published on Cognitive Daily provides one explanation for the lack of early childhood memories in most adults. A couple of psychologists from the University of Otago think they’ve found the reason for this: no language. Essentially, children that have not yet grapsed the capacity for language do not have the words to adequately contextualize their memories. As a result, the memories are lost somewhere in the neuron ether.

It’s pretty cool finding and, if verified, could be a pretty interesting development–especially for the philosophy community. Heidgger, the unapologetic Nazi/philosopher, pretty much predicted this finding in his ontological philosophy. For Heidegger, language is the canvas upon which we experience day-to-day life. We file away our experiences using particular “key words” and can conjure the memories up in the same way. For Heidegger, the scope of language actually limits what you can experience–if there isn’t a word for it, you cannot experience it. It’s neat to see things crop up in the scientific community that were predicted years and years ago by a philosopher.

Filed under: philosophy by Jesse