Memory
How important is memory to us?
We can answer that question by imagining what our lives would be like without it. For a start, we would not be able to recognize anyone or anything as being familiar. In addition, we would not be able to talk, read, or write, because we would remember nothing about language. Furthermore, we would have no sense of self, because we would lack all information about our own personal history. In sum, experience would have taught us absolutely nothing, and we would have the same lack of knowledge as a newborn infant.