I forget...

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Been thinking a lot about the section describing the natural memory of primitive man, particularly the bits about the propensity for these early humans to remember all the words of a song, or to retell stories verbatim.  While in contemporary society this would serve as parlor tricks, void of any really practical applications that I can think of (at least while writing this post), it's still quite impressive.  

I assume this research is based primarily on studying primitive tribes in remote locations.  I wonder what impact the variable of time has, and what unknown differences exist between the research subjects and the primitive humans that existed long ago.  

Did Vygotsky or any of the other psychologists he is citing ever include methods sections in their publications?

Vygotsky notes that "as man gradually absorbs culture, we find this type of  [natural] memory declining...." This distinction between early man and that of man "dominating" her/his/their memory through the use of symbols, and the associated decline of natural memory, made me think more about how the age of technology has affected/ will affect the memory of humans.  Is it the case that the more humans are inundated with and rely upon the use of symbols to store massive amounts of information, and as there is an increase in the sophistication of the use of the symbols, the content they convey, and the sheer volume of information, that memory as we know it will continue to decline?  We have conversations about this from time to time--"Remember how many phone numbers we used to have memorized?...Remember when we used to retain information from readings and documentaries without having to look it up later?...Remember when we would drive some place before the consistent use of GPS and then just remember how to get there?"  As the use of tools and symbols evolves and expands in the digital age, is memory becoming something else?  

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