The Head Office. At center stage: The Vulcan, the Un, and the Engineer.
Whys Guy: Why do people complain about forgetting?
Un: Because they don’t want to complain about remembering.
Whys Guy: Why don’t they ever forget to complain about their memories?
Un: They always remember when they forget. They just don’t remember at the time they intended to.
Whys Guy: If their memory is so bad, why can they remember at the wrong time?
Un: Actually, it is not the wrong time. It is the right time for the memory channel. It is just an inconvenient time for the person.
Whys Guy: Why would it be the right time for the memory channel?
Vulcan: The Un is playing with a tautology. The assumption is that whenever someone becomes aware of a memory, that must have been a good time for the memory channel to get attention.
Whys Guy: Why would the memory channel get attention right then?
Engineer: There is a cue. Most likely, the person is about to do something that requires the thing they forgot. They are about to make coffee and remember they meant to buy sugar. They open their closet in the morning and realize that they meant to pick up the cleaning yesterday. They remember perfectly, once they get a cue.
Whys Guy: Why don’t people set up cues to remind them at a more convenient time?
Explorer: They often do. They write themselves notes.
Engineer: Unfortunately, they may forget to read a note at the right time.
Whys Guy: Why do they forget to read the note?
Engineer: Because they don’t have a cue to remind them to read the note.
Vulcan: This appears to be an example of solving the wrong problem. The problem, as stated, was forgetting. A person with this problem might look for assistance in memory exercises or memory tricks.
Canter: Or people might listen to us and accept that they can’t remember.
Un: Or a person might brainstorm and redefine the problem.
Vulcan: Or look for a similar problem. Memory limitations are natural. As are height limitations. Most people are not tall enough to paint the ceiling.
Un: So they accept their limitations and leave ceilings unpainted.
Engineer: Of course not. They redefine the problem.
Un: Don’t look for a taller painter, look for a longer handle.
Gatherer: Or a ladder. Or stilts.
Vulcan: The problem we noted is that the cue is not presented at the point where action is needed. How can people fix that?
Storyboarder: They could have their Storyboarder create an image of what they will see just at the time the action is to start. They can run the image forward to see the beginning of the action they want to remember.
Vulcan: That will do for people who choose to use imagery. Some people prefer to talk. How can they handle the matter?
Engineer: They can write themselves a note and put it where they will have to handle it near the time to begin the action. For example, they might put it on their car keys.
Canter: That won’t work. Notes won’t stick to car keys.
Engineer: Maybe they’ll find a way to clip notes to their car keys.
Hunter: Somebody might design car keys with a place for notes. There might be a market for something like that.
Vulcan: The Hunters are always hunting.
Canter: You can’t put notes on car keys. There isn’t room.
Un: You can’t put notes on refrigerators. They won’t stick. We are sure the Canters pointed that out for years.
Engineer: The goal is to get the cue in front of you at the time you need it. People can work out their own ways to do that.
Un: If they don’t forget.
Memory
Your cue to remember
Memory Page
Four Doors to Memory