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BenjaminWasden
Ms.Gardner
HonorsEnglish10FourthPeriod
25January2016
ThisRidiculousMindPalaceofMine
Abrain,thecoresystemofahuman,onethatsneededtohaveusdosimpleandcomplex
tasks.EveryoneonEarthhasoneandneedsonetobeabletooperate.
Andyet,IperiodicallyaskmyfifteenyearoldselfifthepeopleIseeeverydayhavea
brain.EverydayIenterthesprawlingmetropolisofschoolandgazeuponpeoplewho
increasinglyforgetcourtesy,relationships,andrespect.IfIusedmybraintoholdsomany
memoriesandlearnthecourtesytaughttomebythemoreexperiencedgeneration,thenwhy
couldntothers?
Maybeitwasbecausetheirstoragecapacitywasrunninglow?No,accordingto
Scientific
American
,thehumanbrainhasthestoragecapacityofabouttwoandahalfpetabytes,whichif
suchwordsarelosttoyou,isroughlyonemilliongigabytes.Thatcapacityisoneevenmostofus
wouldstruggletofillwithapplications,photos,moviesandmusicwithamoderndesktop
computer.Perhapsitwasduetoastoragefailure?Possibly.
ForaslongasIvebeenabletoconstructreasonablememories,Ivestoredtheminmy
brain.Somemaycallitmymindpalace.Itstoresmemoriesofmyfirstdayofpreschoolallthe
waytothechurchmeetingIattendedyesterday.AsIgrow,mybrainneedsmoreandmoreroom
tostoresharperimages,morevividvideos,andhigherqualityaudio.


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Inmyearlyelementaryschooldays,Istrivedtobeabletorealizewhatallowedmeto
storemymemories,whatmademebeabletoperformactionsandwhatmademeableto
memorizethelettersofthealphabet.Throughoutmyelementaryschoolcareer,Igainedmany
memoriesmyfirstcrush,thefirstfriendsImade,thewordsIlearned,thetimeIbrokemy
legyetIneverfoundouthowmystoragedevicecouldrememberthefeelingsIpossessed,the
funmomentswithmyfriends,thegrammaticalconceptsandofcourse,thepainofacompound
fracture.Whilemymemoriesofelementaryschoolaremostlyfuzzyimageswithincoherent
words,Istillamabletomakesomethingofthemessandfairlyvividlyremembereventsfrom
thesetimeperiods.IrememberthejoyovergettingthatStarWarslegosetformybirthday,the
sadnessofsendingabrothertocollege,theanxietyofnoemploymentformyfamily,the
happinessthataccompaniedReedasafriend,andthejoyofabrotherreturningfromachurch
mission.
IespeciallylearnedalotaboutcourtesyandreliancewhenIhadbrokenmyleg.Tothis
dayIpokefunatSonya,mymother,sayingthatshecauseditthatdayasIwantedtogohome.
Regardlessofwhoistoblame,theeventoccurred.Istillseeimagesfromthatevent,thoughless
thanIusuallywouldfromaneventbecauseofshock.Mylegwasinamoonshape,anexit
woundleftasascaronmyrightlegjustabovemyankle,theshoesthatwereboughtformeless
thanaweekagocutoff,themorphineflowingthroughitstubetocalmmypainreceptors,allof
whichfedbacktomymemorybank,theinternalharddriveconnectedtoallofthesemachines.I
wasafraidIfeltaloneinmythoughts.WouldIhealproperly,orevenatall?HowwouldI
managethroughthesenextfewmonthsoftorment?Allofthesewerejustthebeginningofa
threemonthexperiencewhichwasanightmareforme(andImsureIwasnttheonlyonewho


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thoughtthat).Ilearnedtorelyonotherpeopletogetthings,yetmostofthesenecessities
requiredapleaseandathankyou,wordsnearlyextincttotheworld.Iwasfollowingthis
pathofkillingoffthosetwowords,thosesimpleexpressionsofgratitudeandacourteous
paymentofrespect.
InJuniorHigh,Iwasbecomingmoreandmoregratefulforlearningtobecourteous.AsI
sawmyfellowclassmatesfalltoeitherbecomeroguesor,insomecases,drugaddicts,Irealized
thatIwastakingthecorrectpathtobecourteousandsafe.Ialsolearnedmoreofwhatmademy
brainretainalloftheseeventsandpropertechniques.No,Ididnotsuddenlyfindanew
passioninlifesciences,butIdidlearnthatthebrainissimilarinfashiontoastoragedrive.
HighSchooliswhereIstartedtocomparemybraintoacomputerevenmoreaswellas
pushthelimitsofitsfunction(orinotherwords,mysanity).ItookasmanydifficultclassesasI
couldtofindthelimitsofmymind,aspeedtestofmyharddriveifyouwill.Thisisaroundthe
timewhenIbecamefascinatedwithcomputersaswell,makingthecomparisonthatmucheasier
toactuallyrelate.Althoughthisspeedtesthasbeentaxingonmybrain,itsurelyispushing
forward.Myemotionsstillarebeingstoredandcomingout,albeitatamuchslowerrate.My
harddriveisabanktokeepallofmymemoriesandactions.Itsendssignalstoeachofmy
musclestoperformtasks,suchasfinishinghomework,speakingtofriends,orevensending
individualmuscleimpulsestomyfingerstotapthekeyswritingthisessayrightnow.So,once
again,Iask:ifourbrainissoastonishingthatitcommandsustodoitsbidding,thenwhydowe
seepeopleruiningtheirlivesandnotbeingcourteous?Theanswerisnotasimplestoragefailure
orlowcapacityerror.Infact,thereisnosimpleanswer.AllIknowisthatthebrain,however
largeitscapacitymaybe,howeverastonishingitsabilitiesare,isouroneandonlyinternalhard


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drive.Wewoulddowelltotakecareofitandfillitwithusefulideas,dreams,attitudes,and
memories,lestwefallintothetrapofhavingawastelandofamind,onefilledwithtumbleweeds
andbarrenlandscapes.Manymaycalltheusageofmystorageasawasteofspacehowever,I
consideritaneffectiveuseoflife.Afterall,whatisthepointofhavingamindpalaceifyou
neverhavefilesstoredinit?


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WorksCited
Reber,Paul."WhatIstheMemoryCapacityoftheHumanBrain?"
ScientificAmerican
.
ScientificAmerican,1May2010.Web.24Jan.2016.