Past Life Regression & Reincarnation

Synopsis

It so happens that memories are not to be relied on considering that most of us forget stuff that did occur or recalling things in a different manner from the way they actually happened, some of us even remember people we have never met or places we have never been to. Experimental evidence revealed that people can indeed remember events that never happened or perhaps they did happen but to someone else which can be very confusing as to whether or not memories are infallible or not.

Young children heavily rely on their memory as an invaluable tool for learning with those memories created before they had their second birthday being discarded by the brain in blurry childhood amnesia. As we carry on with our lives, the memories we have accumulated over time help us to predict and prepare for future experiences, actions, and encounters, and even though by itself it is not as valuable, it allows us to easily adapt to the different situations we face in our day to day lives.

Memories Define Personality

Memory is the medium through which we create our individuality and even when we regale our friends with our interesting stories we can be heard saying something like “I am not the type who does that kind of thing’, showing that you are using your memories as a reference point or as the basis of the conclusion you have made concerning the nature of your personality.

Memory also creates the notion that our lives are coherent and that nothing is either added or missing from it; the reality is that our lives are irrational and incoherent. This can be proved when swopping stories with each other and we realize that lying is inevitable because most of the time we tend to omit a lot of information and invent things to make our stories seem more consistent; over time, we continuously remember the stories we told and start to believe them as being true.

False Memories

Research shows that our earliest memories are highly suspect, with experiments revealing that a toddler’s memories are better than those of an older child. This is because when we are five years of age, we can remember some of our childhood experiences where as a toddler’s memories are more likely have been conjured up from the stories that they were told, they internalized them making them their own.

Memory is a dynamic process; it requires recalling events or experiences which requires a lot of construction considering that there is no portion of the brain dedicated to storing memories. We create our own history as we carry on with our lives, and every time we come across some new information, we reconstruct the latter merging it with our pre-existing memories.

Some claim that sexually abused children suffering from psychological illnesses were likely to have developed such mental disorders due to repressed memories with some citing cases where victims said that they had recovered memories of child abuse. On the other hand, psychologists and therapists refuted the reliability of these memories adding that therapists should not only be but also careful and phenomenological as well in their explorations with their patients so as not to encourage or influence the latter’s memories causing them to “recall’ something that in essence never occurred.

Chapter 3:

Fatalism is not the Correct Approach

Synopsis

Fatalism is a philosophical belief that all things are determined by fate, thus a person submits to his fate, feeling that it is inevitable. Oftentimes, the view on fatalism is directed towards believing that the future will predictably end in a horrible manner.

People who believe in fatalism tend to view themselves as powerless and that they won’t be able to do anything to change the course of his destiny.

In fatalism, there is a perception that a person has to resign to his fate rather than fight or change it. This kind of philosophy usually stems from people who have either been taught strongly about predestination or those who believe that they have a strong cognizance to predict what will happen in life.