I’ve always been fascinated with memory
so much so that when i have a chance to
be by mice
and I have the chance just to think
about things whatever they happened to
be I enjoy combing through my life
trying to discover new memories that I
may have forgotten or trying to relive
certain experiences that I really
enjoyed in some cases I’ll write them
down but for the most part these are
memories that are just mine their
mummies that I enjoy one such memory
that I search for it it took me a long
time to find it in fact it took me until
the age of 36 until I found what this
memory was this memory was my first
memory and so interesting conversation
to have with anyone to find out what
their first memory was I had all of
early ones i remembered i was probably
around four i remember one of her boys
stepped on a nail and stuck up threw his
shoe into his foot that looked really
painful I remember nearly drowning or at
least I thought it was nearly drowning
whenever I missed the edge of a pool and
I went under the water and the girl
sitting on the edge looked at me like i
was crazy a little bit I remember being
embarrassed to go to the swimming pool
because I had a rip in my shorts and I
was afraid people would see my bottom
but there was one memory I couldn’t
account for I didn’t understand why I
had this memory of where it took place I
remember being afraid my father was
going to die my mom was holding my hand
and then my brother’s hand on the other
side of her and she told us not to get
too close to the water the water was
called a moat we were standing on a
drawbridge she also told us that in the
water there were alligators now it seems
like a sort of a fictional kind of story
because it seems such an odd memory to
have especially growing up in Florida we
are their castles with most and
alligators in them when I was 36 my wife
and I with our son moved from Thailand
to Savannah Georgia and one day we
wanted to do some touristy kind of
things so we went out to Fort Pulaski
when you get to Fort Pulaski there’s of
course the parking lot that good leads
to the museum building and then through
there you go into you go over a small
bridge where there’s a moat and then
there are these small hills and you go
around through the hills and there you
see a drawbridge with a moat and sure
enough even the day that we were there
when I was
36 there were alligators than the moat I
couldn’t believe it I’m looking at the
situation thinking wait a minute I think
this is my earliest memory this is
incredible so I walked to the very spot
where ever remembered my mom’s warning
and I stood there again and I looked off
to the side and there was the little
walk area that my father had taken when
I was only three years old he had taken
this walk area along the moat to go see
what was behind the hills I remember
being afraid my father was going to die
and I wanted to go after him I think he
would never come back he did in case
you’re worried my father did come back
but that was my earliest memory now
what’s interesting about memories is
that memories can be individual they can
be particular to your experience and
until I share my memory with you it’s
just my memory alone but now that I’ve
shared the memory this sort of knowledge
of my experience has become shared
rather than individual memory I think
it’s something that’s connected very
highly to a person’s identity your sense
of self your sense of who you are is
based in part upon what you remember
about your history where you’ve come
from what kind of experiences you’ve had
the things have happened to that shape
you that make you who you are so holding
onto memory for me as a matter of
holding on to my sense of who I am my
identity I have two other memories I’ll
share with you that not many other
people know both of them happen while I
was by myself I I when I was a boy I
like to fix my bicycles if they would
break I would do it myself and I would
fix it and remember fixing my bicycle
one day feeling confident I’ve done a
good job by hop on the bike and started
riding the bike down the road as I stood
up the pedal to go really fast the left
pedal broke off the moment it broke off
i slam Donn under the seat when that
happened the steering bar actually came
out and for a moment there I was looking
over the steering bar it was in my hand
I was balanced the wheel I was no longer
in control of wobble gently and then
suddenly slammed to the side pitching me
over the edge and I scraped my hands in
my knee now it is a shared experience
the other one perhaps illustrate some of
the foolishness of childhood which I
certainly hope I’ve out grown in my
garage I discovered in my father’s tool
case a bullet actually multiple bullets
one of them was a 12-gauge shotgun shell
and I found that if you kind of wedged a
screwdriver in the folded end you could
simply empty its contents though which
is really cool because you get this
little ball bearing we took a look at
and there’s also this black powder in
since I’d watch cartoons I knew what
that black powder did so naturally what
did I do I lit it on fire and it was
really neat because it kind of hissed
and smoked in this black smoke going up
it was so much fun i wanted to do it
again so after i had used up all the
shotgun shells the only ones left were
for a 22 rifle and these are entirely
encased bullets in metal and i found
getting them open was very difficult in
fact frustrating i’m in the garage alone
and i’m using a screwdriver to try to
pry it at the little ledge and then I
gret a vice and I put it into the vice
and I held it closed and grab pliers to
pull the thing off nothing could get
that bullet open I’m trying sorry I
finally get so frustrated I grabbed a
hammer you see where this is going don’t
you I grabbed the hammer I put it on the
ground and I started hammering it
banging it and as you would expect it
did explode I did not die the bullet
actually launched and hit my neighbor’s
garage door and I thought my face was
covered in black suit so I I hidden that
in the woods for a little while until
then she went home to see that my face
was fine you can see I want to keep this
story a secret I’ve never told my
parents so thankful they’ll never find
out right so memory shapes us an
interesting way as we look back on our
lives in some sense about where we’re
going for the future so I can remember
my life but there’s a lot about my life
that I don’t remember think back though
from my own father because my father and
mother both shaped me to make me who I
am and I don’t know some of my parents
lies I know bits of it but if I go to my
grandfather I know even less of his life
and my grandmother she died when my
father was just born I only know one
thing about her I know what she looks
like one of her she’s been put into a
coffin but then go back a generation
after that and I feel as
the further back you go the less you
remember about anyone who came before us
think for yourself how many stories can
you tell about your great-grandparents
remember they’ll be eight of them they
live full lives in some sense it
contributed to your being here now
because they’ve gave birth to someone
who gave birth to someone and eventually
they gave her to you my father was not
raised by his grandfather he was raised
by this couple lien and kami Dean this
is my aunt kami she’s my great aunt and
she was raised as one of 13 children
that my great grandfather and great
grandmother bore the guy in the front is
their son this picture was taken in 1943
when he joined the Navy as you might
know 1943 was during World War two he
was going off to join the war effort and
next to him is his sister the house
behind them is a two-room wooden
structure probably built by them and
it’s covered actual with wooden shingles
that they would have made themselves as
well even in the 1950s this couple
worked on their farm with no mechanized
help there from was run by a mule by the
name of Emma some of what I just told
you I know because my father has told me
but a bit of what I’ve just told you
happened because of what I believe is
going to cause a revolution in memory
this picture was taken the 1943 so where
has it been since then probably in
someone’s photo album maybe in a desk
how do I have it now that’s where I
think things get really interesting the
internet and in this case specifically
facebook this picture was scanned by one
of their grandchildren and then it was
posted on Facebook and since my father
is friends with those cousins he then
ended up in his feet as well and would
end up in his feet man it was in my feet
as well and I could see this picture I
had never seen it before fact I saw this
picture for the first time about a year
ago
I was so excited as I never knew this
that this guy was in the Navy that he
was actually part of water or tea that
was really exciting for me to see that
so then what happens with Facebook is
when people post pictures like that it
just doesn’t go up there static because
it’s shared they become a shared memory
and what happens then you see on the
side over there the large blocks of text
are comments and questions from my
sister and brother asked my father about
it they wanted to know if this couple
was particularly happy because in the
picture my uncle Leon and aunt camy look
very happy and they were very happy they
also want to know about the house behind
it those details I’ve already given you
but I got them from facebook so somehow
we’re able to build our lost memories
our last may be able to recover it this
is really exciting for me someone who is
fascinated by our histories just so much
but also I think this plays a role in
development for identities and the kind
of people that we are here are some
other examples of what I’m talking about
I didn’t see this picture again until
about a year ago or so the same person
who scanned the other pictures scanned
this one as well John Scoggins my father
is the boy in the back right there
standing in front of a tree that they
planted in the front yard of my aunt
Kami’s house this year’s cousins what
followed from here was a long discussion
about their experiences and their
personalities and just remembering sort
of what it was like and that time period
so here you see in facebook the comments
that were being developed on the side
from that time period this was I think
1956 it’s also happening to me and the
people who design Facebook and work of
Facebook realized just how much people
enjoy their own memories and so they’ve
started doing this thing where you could
see where you were so many years ago
from your posts these feed can come back
to you or you can see like in the past
from today and you can enjoy those this
picture was posted by Rho Mosley when I
showed this Victor to one of my students
he commented that i must be the guy on
the left because of the large forehead
actually i’m the guy on the right look
at that full head of hair just barely
held down by that hat right so i could
look back and remember
those are the days when I had a full
head of hair how wonderful that was I
didn’t remember this moment because
since the picture was taken by someone
else I never got to see it the person
never shared it but now they shared it
now I can enjoy the photo and remember
my freshman year at University my friend
wall wasn’t the only one to do this my
friend Paul Carlson also did it we want
in this trip to New York City eventually
ended up on the Jersey Shore and this is
a photograph that someone took of me
putting my head against the pole I have
no idea why I don’t remember Paul is
doing the same thing maybe we’re just
trying to be odd or different or
something like that in that moment but
it isn’t just about the past that we’re
recovering there’s a way in which
actually building new memory that looks
forward and this is where I think the
revolution of social media is going to
benefit the future generations in ways
that we cannot really anticipate here’s
another example there’s my son this came
up as my memory on facebook from four
years ago and is exciting for me to look
back on my son and think he was such a
little boy then and now he’s growing up
I can feel nostalgic and then maybe I’ll
go over and give him a random hug and
he’ll wonder what’s going on and i’ll
now I need to clarify an important
difference here now between my son my
students generation and the people who
are my age immigrants versus natives is
what is referred to when someone is new
to technology or entering technology
versus someone who is native within it
so people my age grew up with rotary
telephones pre cell phones when we
actually wrote letters and mail them to
one another people don’t do that quite
the same way anymore because we have
cell phones even right now I can
guarantee you they’re probably people in
the back of this room checking their
feeds right because I want to see what
the latest news is and see what’s going
on these are people who are native to
the technology they’re the ones who are
growing up in it and as a result they
will use the technology differently for
example the selfie this young lady is in
Bangkok Thailand and she is taking a
picture of herself when she goes to a
temple I thought this is a really funny
mixed
between Internet technology and
religious experience right she wants to
record the fact that she is here at the
temple at New Year’s and so she took a
picture but note also i’m taking a
picture of her taking a picture of
herself there’s another layer of humor
in that one i tried to get on a little
bit too as well i’m trying to capture
important moment to my life in this case
i’m experiencing my last masala chai tea
before i leave nepal it was a wonderful
trip i went there with students and i
wanted to remember that moment so i took
a photograph of it and this is what
instant photographs and instant posting
can allow us we can in the spur the
moment record a moment and that way we
so my big question at this point is what
will what will we remember about our
lives I remember so little about my
great-grandparents so little about my
aunt camming I have a few scattered
photographs and stories from my father
but imagine what it’s like for people
today when you look at how many times we
take pictures of ourselves our lives our
experiences how much are going to
remember we might remember things such
as important birthdays or holidays when
families come together people do things
as a group we’re going to remember the
meal we ate we do take pictures of our
food don’t we we think wow that’s a
delicious meal I’m going to capture it
before I eat it that way afterward I can
remember how good it was or even special
drinks that we have or even as the
internet shows us some of the relevancy
of parts of our lives we might remember
kittens what then is the net effect of
having so many memories if you have
children think about their lives they’re
already beginning to document their
experiences on social media they’re
already putting their lives into that
medium to be recorded and remembered for
the years to come here’s an example from
a friend of mine her name is Alicia I
work with her for three years in a
school in Korea and in the last year so
she gave birth to this cute boy one of
the fun things about have
facebook as i get to see pictures of her
boy growing up i get to see her enjoying
her child and the places that go in the
things they do but this boy he’s already
into the internet revolution he’s
already on social media what will his
memory be like what will his identity be
like his sense of self what will be like
for him when he reaches my age of 46 he
will have so much life to look back upon
then what will happen for his children
or his children’s children how much will
they remember about their lives effect I
don’t know because that piece of the
future has not yet been written thank [Applause]
so much so that when i have a chance to
be by mice
and I have the chance just to think
about things whatever they happened to
be I enjoy combing through my life
trying to discover new memories that I
may have forgotten or trying to relive
certain experiences that I really
enjoyed in some cases I’ll write them
down but for the most part these are
memories that are just mine their
mummies that I enjoy one such memory
that I search for it it took me a long
time to find it in fact it took me until
the age of 36 until I found what this
memory was this memory was my first
memory and so interesting conversation
to have with anyone to find out what
their first memory was I had all of
early ones i remembered i was probably
around four i remember one of her boys
stepped on a nail and stuck up threw his
shoe into his foot that looked really
painful I remember nearly drowning or at
least I thought it was nearly drowning
whenever I missed the edge of a pool and
I went under the water and the girl
sitting on the edge looked at me like i
was crazy a little bit I remember being
embarrassed to go to the swimming pool
because I had a rip in my shorts and I
was afraid people would see my bottom
but there was one memory I couldn’t
account for I didn’t understand why I
had this memory of where it took place I
remember being afraid my father was
going to die my mom was holding my hand
and then my brother’s hand on the other
side of her and she told us not to get
too close to the water the water was
called a moat we were standing on a
drawbridge she also told us that in the
water there were alligators now it seems
like a sort of a fictional kind of story
because it seems such an odd memory to
have especially growing up in Florida we
are their castles with most and
alligators in them when I was 36 my wife
and I with our son moved from Thailand
to Savannah Georgia and one day we
wanted to do some touristy kind of
things so we went out to Fort Pulaski
when you get to Fort Pulaski there’s of
course the parking lot that good leads
to the museum building and then through
there you go into you go over a small
bridge where there’s a moat and then
there are these small hills and you go
around through the hills and there you
see a drawbridge with a moat and sure
enough even the day that we were there
when I was
36 there were alligators than the moat I
couldn’t believe it I’m looking at the
situation thinking wait a minute I think
this is my earliest memory this is
incredible so I walked to the very spot
where ever remembered my mom’s warning
and I stood there again and I looked off
to the side and there was the little
walk area that my father had taken when
I was only three years old he had taken
this walk area along the moat to go see
what was behind the hills I remember
being afraid my father was going to die
and I wanted to go after him I think he
would never come back he did in case
you’re worried my father did come back
but that was my earliest memory now
what’s interesting about memories is
that memories can be individual they can
be particular to your experience and
until I share my memory with you it’s
just my memory alone but now that I’ve
shared the memory this sort of knowledge
of my experience has become shared
rather than individual memory I think
it’s something that’s connected very
highly to a person’s identity your sense
of self your sense of who you are is
based in part upon what you remember
about your history where you’ve come
from what kind of experiences you’ve had
the things have happened to that shape
you that make you who you are so holding
onto memory for me as a matter of
holding on to my sense of who I am my
identity I have two other memories I’ll
share with you that not many other
people know both of them happen while I
was by myself I I when I was a boy I
like to fix my bicycles if they would
break I would do it myself and I would
fix it and remember fixing my bicycle
one day feeling confident I’ve done a
good job by hop on the bike and started
riding the bike down the road as I stood
up the pedal to go really fast the left
pedal broke off the moment it broke off
i slam Donn under the seat when that
happened the steering bar actually came
out and for a moment there I was looking
over the steering bar it was in my hand
I was balanced the wheel I was no longer
in control of wobble gently and then
suddenly slammed to the side pitching me
over the edge and I scraped my hands in
my knee now it is a shared experience
the other one perhaps illustrate some of
the foolishness of childhood which I
certainly hope I’ve out grown in my
garage I discovered in my father’s tool
case a bullet actually multiple bullets
one of them was a 12-gauge shotgun shell
and I found that if you kind of wedged a
screwdriver in the folded end you could
simply empty its contents though which
is really cool because you get this
little ball bearing we took a look at
and there’s also this black powder in
since I’d watch cartoons I knew what
that black powder did so naturally what
did I do I lit it on fire and it was
really neat because it kind of hissed
and smoked in this black smoke going up
it was so much fun i wanted to do it
again so after i had used up all the
shotgun shells the only ones left were
for a 22 rifle and these are entirely
encased bullets in metal and i found
getting them open was very difficult in
fact frustrating i’m in the garage alone
and i’m using a screwdriver to try to
pry it at the little ledge and then I
gret a vice and I put it into the vice
and I held it closed and grab pliers to
pull the thing off nothing could get
that bullet open I’m trying sorry I
finally get so frustrated I grabbed a
hammer you see where this is going don’t
you I grabbed the hammer I put it on the
ground and I started hammering it
banging it and as you would expect it
did explode I did not die the bullet
actually launched and hit my neighbor’s
garage door and I thought my face was
covered in black suit so I I hidden that
in the woods for a little while until
then she went home to see that my face
was fine you can see I want to keep this
story a secret I’ve never told my
parents so thankful they’ll never find
out right so memory shapes us an
interesting way as we look back on our
lives in some sense about where we’re
going for the future so I can remember
my life but there’s a lot about my life
that I don’t remember think back though
from my own father because my father and
mother both shaped me to make me who I
am and I don’t know some of my parents
lies I know bits of it but if I go to my
grandfather I know even less of his life
and my grandmother she died when my
father was just born I only know one
thing about her I know what she looks
like one of her she’s been put into a
coffin but then go back a generation
after that and I feel as
the further back you go the less you
remember about anyone who came before us
think for yourself how many stories can
you tell about your great-grandparents
remember they’ll be eight of them they
live full lives in some sense it
contributed to your being here now
because they’ve gave birth to someone
who gave birth to someone and eventually
they gave her to you my father was not
raised by his grandfather he was raised
by this couple lien and kami Dean this
is my aunt kami she’s my great aunt and
she was raised as one of 13 children
that my great grandfather and great
grandmother bore the guy in the front is
their son this picture was taken in 1943
when he joined the Navy as you might
know 1943 was during World War two he
was going off to join the war effort and
next to him is his sister the house
behind them is a two-room wooden
structure probably built by them and
it’s covered actual with wooden shingles
that they would have made themselves as
well even in the 1950s this couple
worked on their farm with no mechanized
help there from was run by a mule by the
name of Emma some of what I just told
you I know because my father has told me
but a bit of what I’ve just told you
happened because of what I believe is
going to cause a revolution in memory
this picture was taken the 1943 so where
has it been since then probably in
someone’s photo album maybe in a desk
how do I have it now that’s where I
think things get really interesting the
internet and in this case specifically
facebook this picture was scanned by one
of their grandchildren and then it was
posted on Facebook and since my father
is friends with those cousins he then
ended up in his feet as well and would
end up in his feet man it was in my feet
as well and I could see this picture I
had never seen it before fact I saw this
picture for the first time about a year
ago
I was so excited as I never knew this
that this guy was in the Navy that he
was actually part of water or tea that
was really exciting for me to see that
so then what happens with Facebook is
when people post pictures like that it
just doesn’t go up there static because
it’s shared they become a shared memory
and what happens then you see on the
side over there the large blocks of text
are comments and questions from my
sister and brother asked my father about
it they wanted to know if this couple
was particularly happy because in the
picture my uncle Leon and aunt camy look
very happy and they were very happy they
also want to know about the house behind
it those details I’ve already given you
but I got them from facebook so somehow
we’re able to build our lost memories
our last may be able to recover it this
is really exciting for me someone who is
fascinated by our histories just so much
but also I think this plays a role in
development for identities and the kind
of people that we are here are some
other examples of what I’m talking about
I didn’t see this picture again until
about a year ago or so the same person
who scanned the other pictures scanned
this one as well John Scoggins my father
is the boy in the back right there
standing in front of a tree that they
planted in the front yard of my aunt
Kami’s house this year’s cousins what
followed from here was a long discussion
about their experiences and their
personalities and just remembering sort
of what it was like and that time period
so here you see in facebook the comments
that were being developed on the side
from that time period this was I think
1956 it’s also happening to me and the
people who design Facebook and work of
Facebook realized just how much people
enjoy their own memories and so they’ve
started doing this thing where you could
see where you were so many years ago
from your posts these feed can come back
to you or you can see like in the past
from today and you can enjoy those this
picture was posted by Rho Mosley when I
showed this Victor to one of my students
he commented that i must be the guy on
the left because of the large forehead
actually i’m the guy on the right look
at that full head of hair just barely
held down by that hat right so i could
look back and remember
those are the days when I had a full
head of hair how wonderful that was I
didn’t remember this moment because
since the picture was taken by someone
else I never got to see it the person
never shared it but now they shared it
now I can enjoy the photo and remember
my freshman year at University my friend
wall wasn’t the only one to do this my
friend Paul Carlson also did it we want
in this trip to New York City eventually
ended up on the Jersey Shore and this is
a photograph that someone took of me
putting my head against the pole I have
no idea why I don’t remember Paul is
doing the same thing maybe we’re just
trying to be odd or different or
something like that in that moment but
it isn’t just about the past that we’re
recovering there’s a way in which
actually building new memory that looks
forward and this is where I think the
revolution of social media is going to
benefit the future generations in ways
that we cannot really anticipate here’s
another example there’s my son this came
up as my memory on facebook from four
years ago and is exciting for me to look
back on my son and think he was such a
little boy then and now he’s growing up
I can feel nostalgic and then maybe I’ll
go over and give him a random hug and
he’ll wonder what’s going on and i’ll
now I need to clarify an important
difference here now between my son my
students generation and the people who
are my age immigrants versus natives is
what is referred to when someone is new
to technology or entering technology
versus someone who is native within it
so people my age grew up with rotary
telephones pre cell phones when we
actually wrote letters and mail them to
one another people don’t do that quite
the same way anymore because we have
cell phones even right now I can
guarantee you they’re probably people in
the back of this room checking their
feeds right because I want to see what
the latest news is and see what’s going
on these are people who are native to
the technology they’re the ones who are
growing up in it and as a result they
will use the technology differently for
example the selfie this young lady is in
Bangkok Thailand and she is taking a
picture of herself when she goes to a
temple I thought this is a really funny
mixed
between Internet technology and
religious experience right she wants to
record the fact that she is here at the
temple at New Year’s and so she took a
picture but note also i’m taking a
picture of her taking a picture of
herself there’s another layer of humor
in that one i tried to get on a little
bit too as well i’m trying to capture
important moment to my life in this case
i’m experiencing my last masala chai tea
before i leave nepal it was a wonderful
trip i went there with students and i
wanted to remember that moment so i took
a photograph of it and this is what
instant photographs and instant posting
can allow us we can in the spur the
moment record a moment and that way we
so my big question at this point is what
will what will we remember about our
lives I remember so little about my
great-grandparents so little about my
aunt camming I have a few scattered
photographs and stories from my father
but imagine what it’s like for people
today when you look at how many times we
take pictures of ourselves our lives our
experiences how much are going to
remember we might remember things such
as important birthdays or holidays when
families come together people do things
as a group we’re going to remember the
meal we ate we do take pictures of our
food don’t we we think wow that’s a
delicious meal I’m going to capture it
before I eat it that way afterward I can
remember how good it was or even special
drinks that we have or even as the
internet shows us some of the relevancy
of parts of our lives we might remember
kittens what then is the net effect of
having so many memories if you have
children think about their lives they’re
already beginning to document their
experiences on social media they’re
already putting their lives into that
medium to be recorded and remembered for
the years to come here’s an example from
a friend of mine her name is Alicia I
work with her for three years in a
school in Korea and in the last year so
she gave birth to this cute boy one of
the fun things about have
facebook as i get to see pictures of her
boy growing up i get to see her enjoying
her child and the places that go in the
things they do but this boy he’s already
into the internet revolution he’s
already on social media what will his
memory be like what will his identity be
like his sense of self what will be like
for him when he reaches my age of 46 he
will have so much life to look back upon
then what will happen for his children
or his children’s children how much will
they remember about their lives effect I
don’t know because that piece of the
future has not yet been written thank [Applause]
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