An occasion arose last Sunday morning to recall a person whom I occasionally encountered about some either 35 or 40 years ago. The differing range in time was due to my admitted inability to then recall in which of two different contexts I encountered him.
I then reflected that many of a younger generation might well attribute this to the deficiencies of an aging mind. For while it seems indisputable that with the progression of time there is an inevitable deterioration in civilization, society, morals and percipience, it also has a tendency to impose negative physiological effects.
Yet are there not other explanations also? One is the consequence of the aggregation of an ever-increasing volume of recollections accumulated over the longer length of time. If one had the Divine Mind, this would be an immaterial factor. But mortal minds are finite. Therefore this accumulation of recollections results in a compression of them. And this compression inhibits the ability to distinguish between the time framework of individual events.
The second explanation is both the ability and inclination of the mind to synthesize data and ideas as it accumulates both over time. With lower volumes of information either data or ideas will render recognition of any interconnection or apposition more difficult, yielding a hypothesis that either remain isolated and random. However as the mind accumulates both, then more common threads, points or vectors, both parallel or divergent, will present themselves — affording the opportunity to recognize patterns and draw conclusions. And since the mind is finite and inhibited from concurrent linear thought and lateral thought, the mature mind’s predilection is to elect rumination on the patterns and conclusions rather than the particulars of which they are the product.
Ergo, the mature mind does not necessarily suffer from deficiencies due to deterioration but rather exhibits a proclivity that is attributable to the process of its development.
WAYNE A. SMITH
Forester Twp, Michigan USA
21 Aug 2015