Allegory of information storage

The allegory of information storage is an allegory presented by S. Perquin.

The allegory

Imagine you are buying a new computer. It is a brand-new device with the latest hardware. The software still needs to be downloaded and installed, which of course takes some time. In the beginning, there are some 'teething problems' that need to be resolved. The manual explains what you should do to get the computer up and running. Right from the start, the first files are created. Downloads, documents, pictures, videos, music, you name it. The files are not only stored internally on the computer but also externally in the cloud. All files are automatically synced to the cloud. More and more files are added to the computer. The computer's memory becomes much richer, allowing it to discover connections and patterns more quickly. At a certain point, the computer reaches its peak.

As time goes by and the computer ages, it starts to function less efficiently. The computer begins to develop various issues. It starts up more slowly, becomes slower, crashes regularly and can no longer process information properly. And then comes the day everyone feared: the blue screen of death. After the computer's brain (CPU) overheated, it suddenly stopped working. At the same time, the hard disk drive (HDD) appears to have malfunctioned. As a result, all other elements of the hardware also no longer work. The computer can be considered dead. The computer is no more.

Even though the brain and data storage of the computer broke down and stopped working, the information of the files is still stored in the cloud. This has not been lost. However, this information cannot be reached. You decide to buy a new computer. You have to download and install everything anew. Once again, files are added to the computer, but at the same time, the cloud is logged into. Everything the computer does is stored in the cloud again, but not all the information from the cloud ends up on the computer. Only some of the files in the cloud will be transferred to the computer.

If the computer had a consciousness, what would it think when it sees those files that were seemingly there before the computer existed? The computer would maybe think that these were created by someone else. But still, it thinks it can remember creating these files itself. Who actually created those pre-existing files? Was there another computer before this one itself existed?

Why this allegory?

I have the idea that I can vaguely remember some events that I have never experienced in my life. Since childhood, I have had a great fascination for certain things, such as countries, time periods, people, professions and worldviews. Rarely, when certain things happen in my life, I feel inexplicable emotions, such as fear or heroism. This while I don't normally feel these emotions and I can't really find any rational explanation for them at all. Similarly, certain smells and songs evoke specific feelings in me.

It may sound strange, but after analyzing all my ideas and assuming that past lives would exist, I concluded that I intuitively feel I have had several lives as a soldier, such as during the American Revolutionary War or the American Civil War, where I was also a sheriff. And also as a British soldier during World War II. I also believe that I was a Greek philosopher in ancient times, perhaps a student of Socrates or Plato. Additionally, I have the sense that I had multiple lives as a Roman citizen, including one as a soldier. I think I can also remember a life as a Chinese villager. Furthermore, I think I have had several lives in ancient Egypt.

These are inexplicable ideas that I cannot prove, yet it feels as though they are true. How much should you rely on your intuition and subconscious? Should reason take precedence or is it about the experience?