Memory

Memory

Alexandr Piatkov



Looking at a computer monitor, it is hard to avoid digital analogies. From this

mechanistic perspective, human memory resembles a sort of log file or a journal

of our existence. Everything is recorded into it indiscriminately: our own

thoughts alongside the signals received through our senses. These thoughts can

take the form of words, as well as auditory, visual, tactile, gustatory, or

olfactory images.


Repeated actions or thoughts rise, to use internet parlance, to the "Top,"

shaping and reinforcing character traits. These traits, in turn, can elevate the

significance of the thoughts that align with them. This process forms a personal

core, a spine. However, there are also people who, as the saying goes, have "no

king in their head"—their "Top" is entirely shaped by their surroundings or the

television screen.


Our life log is written in a hypertext language, filled with links that

interconnect recognized concepts. Thus, a person journeys through the hyperlinks

of their own memory, comparing facts, connecting them, and weaving a

multidimensional tapestry that mirrors reality.


Yet, there are born weavers whose social metabolism consists entirely of

establishing false connections to serve a particular idea. They tirelessly weave

a tapestry of reality out of speculation, distortion, and falsification, seeking

to extract benefit for themselves or their chosen idols.


If their organic metabolism operated on such false connections, their physical

existence would not last long. At the same time, for some reason, there is a

widespread belief that lies are not as fatal to the social organism as they are

to the physiological one—and that in certain cases, they might even be useful.


But this is a dangerous delusion. A society tightly wrapped in a thick tapestry

of false links between concepts, facts, and events is stripped of its connection

to reality and hurts toward an abyss. The risk of falling does not depend on

democracy or authoritarianism, progressiveness or primitivism. It depends solely

on the growth of the weaver population and the sophistication of the toxins of

falsehood they secrete. These toxins destroy the very fabric of society, reducing

human consciousness to a state close to hallucination—driven, of course, by the

public’s own craving for such vivid illusions.



P.S.
Memory is a complex, hyperlinked system that defines our perception of reality. When it is corrupted by falsehoods, the entire structure of society begins to collapse.

Here is the literary translation of the essay into English, formatted specifically for publication in the "Miniatures" section on Proza.ru.




Publication Data & Credits
Author: Alexandr Piatkov
Original Text: proza.ru/avtor/alexanderan
Original Publication Certificate: №215042302206 (2015)
Translation: AI Parallel Translator (Llama Context-Aware Model)
Style & Formatting: Optimized for Proza.ru Miniatures section