Misled by metaphor

Nicholas Carr

pp. 67-69

in: Sebastian Groes (ed), Memory in the twenty-first century, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016

Abstract

Two thousand years ago, the Roman philosopher Seneca used a charming metaphor to describe the way memory shapes intellect. "We should imitate bees", he wrote; "we should mingle all the various nectars we have tasted, and then turn them into a single sweet substance, in such a way that, even if it is apparent where it originated, it appears quite different from what it was in its original state".¹ As his metaphor makes clear, Seneca viewed memory not as a mere container but as a crucible. Memory was more than the sum of things remembered. It was something newly made, the essence, even, of a singular self.