Mental mansions and/or lock boxes...

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Garrett John Bauer

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Dec 24, 2014
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howdy Constant Bloggers! (I hope I haven't accidentally plagiarized this term; I came up with it free from external exposure, whether you want to believe or no. I just have to assume someone else came up with it first; hard to be original
nowadays...)

So to my point-I just started reading Dr. Sleep (so stoked) and I came across Dan Torrence's, or rather Dick H.'s lockbox mental 'trick'? It instantly reminded me of Hannibal Lectors 'mental mansion' ( although I'm not sure that was how he described it. And yes, it was T. Harris who wrote it, again whether or not it was he who originally came up with the concept).
If you are not familiar with the story, here's my succinct (and necessarily inarticulate) summation: a cannibalizing serial killer uses this mental mansion to store and allow access to all sorts of art (ooh, just now recalled it was a 'memory palace' I believe! Sorry, I digress), specific memories of people, smells, locations etc. while locked away in a hellish dungeon of a prison/criminal asylum. This 'memory palace' allows him to pass the time during his life sentence (w/o parol) w/o losing his marbles (ironic, as you would naturally already be in debt of said marbles to be Like Hannibal). He 'eacapes' to this palace in his own mind...

My question is, in real life, are these mental capacities actually concrete? Or is it just fiction? Can anyone create these subconscious / pseudo-conscious entities? And if so, do any of you know how to do it or how it works?

I appreciate any input, even if it's simply that someone took the effort to read this rubbish and tells me to '**** off' and stop clogging up the site with utter stupidity. I'm still not familiar with all the rules or etiquette on blogs. ie my use of profanity, apologies...

Thanks dudes!

-Garrett
 
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Neesy

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Garrett John Bauer said:
howdy Constant Bloggers! (I hope I haven't accidentally plagiarized this term; I came up with it free from external exposure, whether you want to believe or no. I just have to assume someone else came up with it first; hard to be original
nowadays...)

So to my point-I just started reading Dr. Sleep (so stoked) and I came across Dan Torrence's, or rather Dick H.'s lockbox mental 'trick'? It instantly reminded me of Hannibal Lectors 'mental mansion' ( although I'm not sure that was how he described it. And yes, it was T. Harris who wrote it, again whether or not it was he who originally came up with the concept).
If you are not familiar with the story, here's my succinct (and necessarily inarticulate) summation: a cannibalizing serial killer uses this mental mansion to store and allow access to all sorts of art (ooh, just now recalled it was a 'memory palace' I believe! Sorry, I digress), specific memories of people, smells, locations etc. while locked away in a hellish dungeon of a prison/criminal asylum. This 'memory palace' allows him to pass the time during his life sentence (w/o parol) w/o losing his marbles (ironic, as you would naturally already be in debt of said marbles to be Like Hannibal). He 'eacapes' to this palace in his own mind...

My question is, in real life, are these mental capacities actually concrete? Or is it just fiction? Can anyone create these subconscious / pseudo-conscious entities? And if so, do any of you know how to do it or how it works?

I appreciate any input, even if it's simply that someone took the effort to read this rubbish and tells me to '**** off' and stop clogging up the site with utter stupidity. I'm still not familiar with all the rules or etiquette on blogs. ie my use of profanity, apologies...

Thanks dudes!

-Garrett
Click to expand...
Hi and Welcome Garrett - Constant Reader is actually the preferred term. To me blog sounds like something you might find in a clogged drain.

I do understand what you mean, however!

:encouragement: p.s. check out the FAQs (although I must admit it took me a while to get a hang of all the etiquette etc!)

wolf and raven.jpg
 
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Neesy

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Hi again Garrett John Bauer - here is a quote from our Moderator herself (Marsha) - Stephen King's personal assistant:

"All comments are moderated until a new member has accumulated 150 posts. It may seem like a lot, but honestly it doesn't take long once you get going and start interacting. Just take a look around the Board and pick some topics that look interesting to you or start some of your own."

Have fun posting! - great bunch of people here :cheerful:
 
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17021jude

17021jude

Well-Known Member
Nov 12, 2009
394
1,915
Kansas
Hello Garrett, welcome! I like to think everyone does have a place in there mind that they stuff away the things they aren't capable/don't want to think or deal with. Is it behind the purple or is it beyond the purple...I don't have a copy of Lisey's Story handy, but there's a reference to this sort of thing in that particular S.K. novel. I personally began my own hiding place for these sorts of things when I was pretty little actually, I think we do this and we don't even realize it's happening, kind of a subconscious mind thing. Being born in the early 70's, I found I was unable to watch scenes on the news of the Vietnam War, scared me into tears...If I had to pinpoint a time when my mind started slowing stowing away images, smells, and such things that would have been it. Anyways, as an adult now I recently watched a 4 hour special on the Vietnam War, with footage etc, and watching that brought back images of myself as a child, my feelings, then those thoughts turned into..where we lived at the time, neighborhood friends, what our cat's name was, how my mom's perfume smelled etc. Funny where the mind can get to. Also, I think that smells can put a person on "high alert", case in point is my dad passed away 2 years ago, for this last Christmas my mom had handbags made out of my dad's jeans for all of us girls, and visor covers for all the guys, kids, grandkids, great grandkids...anyway, my youngest son put his gift to his nose and smelled it, and handed it to me and said "smells just like grandpa", well my dad might have well have been standing right there when I put my nose to my son's gift and smelled it...even after two years undoubted washings the smell was still there, so yes I for sure have a secret lock box filled with my most favorite things, and my most feared things...it just seems to take one small thing to open it and away my mind runs.
 
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Neesy

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
17021jude said:
Hello Garrett, welcome! I like to think everyone does have a place in there mind that they stuff away the things they aren't capable/don't want to think or deal with. Is it behind the purple or is it beyond the purple...I don't have a copy of Lisey's Story handy, but there's a reference to this sort of thing in that particular S.K. novel. I personally began my own hiding place for these sorts of things when I was pretty little actually, I think we do this and we don't even realize it's happening, kind of a subconscious mind thing. Being born in the early 70's, I found I was unable to watch scenes on the news of the Vietnam War, scared me into tears...If I had to pinpoint a time when my mind started slowing stowing away images, smells, and such things that would have been it. Anyways, as an adult now I recently watched a 4 hour special on the Vietnam War, with footage etc, and watching that brought back images of myself as a child, my feelings, then those thoughts turned into..where we lived at the time, neighborhood friends, what our cat's name was, how my mom's perfume smelled etc. Funny where the mind can get to. Also, I think that smells can put a person on "high alert", case in point is my dad passed away 2 years ago, for this last Christmas my mom had handbags made out of my dad's jeans for all of us girls, and visor covers for all the guys, kids, grandkids, great grandkids...anyway, my youngest son put his gift to his nose and smelled it, and handed it to me and said "smells just like grandpa", well my dad might have well have been standing right there when I put my nose to my son's gift and smelled it...even after two years undoubted washings the smell was still there, so yes I for sure have a secret lock box filled with my most favorite things, and my most feared things...it just seems to take one small thing to open it and away my mind runs.
Click to expand...
:okay: Good post!
 
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