Why can't we remember the future?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the question of why humans can remember the past but not the future. It touches on concepts related to memory, the nature of time, and philosophical implications of temporal perception.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that memory is inherently tied to past experiences, as the future has not yet occurred.
  • One participant references Brian Greene's work, indicating a connection between the question and the concept of the arrow of time related to entropy.
  • Another viewpoint posits that the experience of time flowing from past to future may be an illusion, proposing that all time exists simultaneously, though this does not imply determinism.
  • A participant humorously acknowledges the complexity of the question, suggesting that it is both quixotic and a noble pursuit in physics.
  • There is a challenge to the relevance of the question to the forum, indicating a potential mismatch with the forum's guidelines.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of time and memory, with no consensus reached regarding the philosophical implications of the question. Some agree on the basic premise that memory relates to past experiences, while others introduce more complex ideas about the nature of time.

Contextual Notes

Some assumptions about the nature of time and memory are not fully explored, and the discussion includes varying interpretations of philosophical concepts without resolution.

leopard
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Why is it that we can remember the past but not the future?
 
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That is a very quixotic question, but um...

the future hasn't happened yet; our memory only recollects things which have already occurred. Hence, we can't remember the future.
 
Brian Greene discusses this question in either "The elegant universe" or "The fabric of spacetime". I can't remember it all, but it certainly has to do with the time arrow given by the entropy, that is always increasing.
 
Because experience happens in the present. As we experience things, they are recorded in the right and left hemispheres of our brains... some of them anyway. They become available for recall at a later time.
 
I've read that the experience of time as a flowing from the past to the future, is an illusion. All time is in reality present "simultaneously". This does not mean, however, that everything is destined.

Is this true?
 
No.
Well, maybe if...no.
Yes actually, it is possible but...


Welcome to physics.


It is a quixotic question, but quixotic is a noble approach to physics.
 
This doesn't meet the criteria for this forum. leopard please read the Philosophy posting guidelines and if you can meet the criteria, you may repost.
 

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