{"id":246964,"date":"2026-11-09T22:08:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/why-memory-may-be-essential-to-consciousness-victoria-trumbull"},"modified":"2026-11-09T22:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:08:12","slug":"why-memory-may-be-essential-to-consciousness-victoria-trumbull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/11\/why-memory-may-be-essential-to-consciousness-victoria-trumbull","title":{"rendered":"Why Memory May Be Essential to Consciousness | Victoria Trumbull"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><iframe title=\"Why Memory May Be Essential to Consciousness | Victoria Trumbull\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4\/3; object-fit: contain;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ownqy7b-WLc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;\n   picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Could memory be more fundamental to consciousness than we realize?<\/p>\n<p>Victoria Trumbull revisits Augustine and Henri Bergson to explore memory as the continuity underlying mental life. She challenges the idea that remembering is simply retrieving stored information, examining how the past remains active in present experience and what this might reveal about the soul.<\/p>\n<p>0:00 Rehabilitating the Philosophical Idea of the Soul 4:10 The Soul as Vital Activity Rather Than a Fixed Definition 6:53 Augustine, Bergson, and the Philosophy of Memory 11:33 Memory as a Foundation of Consciousness 14:10 How Memory Connects Past, Present, and Future 18:35 Memory Loss and the Limits of the Storage Model 22:52 Bergson\u2019s Memory Images and Pure Memory.<\/p>\n<p>Victoria Trumbull is a philosopher, researcher, and writer whose work concerns the nature of the mind and the relationship between time, memory, and the soul. She received her DPhil from the University of Oxford and is the author of On the Memory of the Soul: Augustine and Bergson\u2019s Metaphysics.<\/p>\n<p>More from Victoria Trumbull on Closer To Truth: Closer To Truth: The Podcast: \u2022 Closer To Truth: The Podcast Understanding Consciousness \u2014 Closer To Truth \u2014 Core Topic: \u2022 Understanding Consciousness \u2014 Closer To Tr\u2026 Closer To Truth contributor page: <a href=\"https:\/\/closertotruth.com\/contributor\">https:\/\/closertotruth.com\/contributor<\/a>\u2026 to Closer To Truth: <img class=\"\" alt=\"\"> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/closertotruthtv\">@closertotruthtv<\/a> Join the Community: <\/p>\n<ul class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"\">\n<li style=\"\">Membership (5,000+ videos): <a href=\"https:\/\/closertotruth.com\/register\/\">https:\/\/closertotruth.com\/register\/<\/a> <\/li>\n<li style=\"\">Audio Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/closertotruth.podbean.com\">https:\/\/closertotruth.podbean.com<\/a> <\/li>\n<li style=\"\">Support the Show: <a href=\"https:\/\/closertotruth.com\/donate\/\">https:\/\/closertotruth.com\/donate\/<\/a> <\/li>\n<li style=\"\">Official Merchandise: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bonfire.com\/store\/closert\">https:\/\/www.bonfire.com\/store\/closert<\/a>\u2026 <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Follow Us: <\/p>\n<ul class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"\">\n<li style=\"\">Facebook: <img class=\"\" alt=\"\"> \/ closertotruthtv <\/li>\n<li style=\"\">Instagram: <img class=\"\" alt=\"\"> \/ closertotruth <\/li>\n<li style=\"\">TikTok: <img class=\"\" alt=\"\"> \/ closertotruthtv <\/li>\n<li style=\"\">X: <img class=\"\" alt=\"\"> \/ closertotruth <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> Closer To Truth, created and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world\u2019s greatest thinkers exploring humanity\u2019s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence and sentience. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers. #CloserToTruth #Consciousness #VictoriaTrumbull #PhilosophyOfMemory #NatureOfTheSoul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could memory be more fundamental to consciousness than we realize? Victoria Trumbull revisits Augustine and Henri Bergson to explore memory as the continuity underlying mental life. She challenges the idea that remembering is simply retrieving stored information, examining how the past remains active in present experience and what this might reveal about the soul. 0:00 [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-futurism","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}