OK,
I have found the answer.
The
other day, I went downstairs for something. When I got downstairs, I forgot
what I had come down for. (And that’s not the first time.)
But
I have found the answer and it is not age.
(Though
I won’t deny that I am become a tad ancient and those brain cells—unionized, I
bet!—are becoming a bit rebellious, refusing to obey management. And not only that: my hairline is
in recession, my weight is in inflation, and overall I’m in depression. I’m a
walking economy!)
But
back to this thing about memory. Names, numbers, places, things. All are fading
rapidly. But now I know why, courtesy of Dr. Radvansky, psychology professor at
Notre Dame.
This
guy is an expert on doors. Yes, doors. His research has found the answer. Here
it is:
Passing
through doorways is the cause of these memory lapses!
“Entering
or exiting through a doorway serves as an ‘event boundary’ in the mind, which
separates episodes of activity and files them away,” Radvansky explains
helpfully. “Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different
room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized.” Boxed, packed, and
carted away.
Doorways!
Who’d’ve thunk it?
Prof.
Radvansky performed experiments on college students (rewarded with course credits)
in both real and virtual environments. They had to go into a room (real or
virtual) pick up an object (red cube or blue wedge or some such) and go into
another room and exchange it for another object. Randomly they were quizzed
about what they were carrying or what they had just dropped off (they couldn’t
see what they were carrying in a virtual experiment; in a real one, they were
not allowed to look). The result? More errors if they were interrogated after
passing through a doorway, than if they were in the middle of a room: the “location-updating
effect” (a.k.a. “senior moment”). Memory was worse with a location shift. The
funny thing was that even when they returned to the same room (after going
through a series of rooms) memory did not improve. It seems that just going
through doors does something to your brain, impeding your ability to retrieve
thoughts or decisions made in a different room.
So?
Live in a place with no doors and your memory will be pristine!
(I
wonder if car doors can do that to you, too. I’m gonna get me a motorcycle!)
Anyhow,
I was intrigued to learn that doorways turn out to be “event boundaries.” Remarkable!
Maybe
that’s why Jesus called himself a “door.”
“I am the door;
if anyone enters through Me,
he will be saved.”
John 10:9
For
it is through him that one has access to the Father.
For through Him we … have our access
in one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:18
It
is the passage through this “event boundary” that changes our eternal destiny.
It changes everything!
Therefore, having been
justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have
obtained
access by faith into this grace
in which we stand.
Romans 5:1–2
An
“event boundary” indeed! The past is forgiven. From sin I am free.
And
you know what, that Door does things to God’s memory, too.
“… and their sins and their
lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
Hebrews 10:17
Amazing,
that “Event-Boundary”!
Open to me the gates of
righteousness;
I shall enter through them,
I shall give thanks to the
LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
The righteous will enter
through it.
Psalm 118:19–20
No comments:
Post a Comment