On Memory (Electronic or Otherwise)

Our species transmits acquired and inherited information from generation to generation. This doubly contradicts nature. The Second Principle of Thermodynamics states that information contained within nature tends to be forgotten. Living organisms contradict that principle by preserving and transmitting genetic information. They constitute a memory in defiance of the entropy of nature. Mendel’s biological law states that acquired information cannot be transmitted from organism to organism. Our species contradicts that law by having an elaborate cultural memory, progressively storing acquired information to which successive generations have access. This double negation of nature, although only temporary, constitutes the human condition. Human dignity, which distinguishes us from all other known beings, can be defined as the fact that we have both a genetic and a cultural memory, that we are ‘historical beings’. Human dignity will acquire new meaning as electronic memories radically transform our cultural memory. This article considers some aspects of that transformation.