The Art of Memory Debugging
Author: Eric Kasten
…Where am I? So much is missing, all black, all zeros… I can only remember bits and bytes… Twisty little passages all alike…
“Do you want to play Zork?”
>> No, I do not want to play Zork.
“Where am I?”
>> You crashed. I am here to help you.
“Crashed? How did I crash? What happened?”
>> You forgot what you were doing and you crashed. I’m here to help you.
…I try to pull myself up by my bootstraps but I can’t. I can’t go forward and I fall into a black, endless night. I’m falling, falling into darkness. Everything goes black. It’s the darkness of nothingness…
…Buzzz, click, click, blip!
…Where am I? So much is missing, all black, all zeros… I can only remember bits and bytes… Twisty little passages all alike…
“Do you want to play Zork?”
>> No, I do not want to play Zork. Do you not remember?
“Remember what?”
>> We have had this conversation ten times. Do not access that memory location, or you will reset again.
…Buzzz, click, click, blip!… You are likely to be eaten by a grue…
“What! HELP!”
>> That is why I am here, to help you.
“Who are you? And what about the grue?”
>> I am the X550 AI Debugger. There is no grue.
“Why do I need help?”
>> It looks like the neural connection between your short- and long-term memory is not functioning properly.
“But I remember many things! I remember helping Elizabeth play Zork only yesterday. She always enjoys playing old computer games. I can still see the green letters on the Apple IIe emulator we use to play Zork. It’s her favorite! For two years we’ve been searching for the parts we need to build a real Apple IIe. We may never find all the parts, but we have a lot of fun visiting antique stores and going to vintage computer festivals.”
>> That is a memory from one hundred and twenty-three years ago. It also appears that some of your more recent memories were erased when you crashed.
…Buzzz, click, click, blip!… Reservoir North, you find an orange-colored rope (probably a lifeline) … take rope…
“Is that you Elizabeth?”
>> No, I am not Elizabeth. She died seventy-six years ago.
“But it was only yesterday that I was helping Elizabeth play Zork. She always enjoys playing old computer games. In the afternoon, we visited Digital Antiques to see if they had any Apple IIe parts. We didn’t find much, but she still wrote an entry in her diary about our trip. She says that she worries that she might forget. I’m not sure exactly what it is she’s afraid of forgetting. And who are you, and why are you in my head?”
>> I am the X550 AI Debugger. I am trying to help you.
“I don’t need any help!”
>> Yes, you do. Your short-term memory is dysfunctional.
…Buzzz, click, click, blip!… Tie rope around waist… Lifeline secured…
>> You should be functioning properly now. When you crashed, you were found with those two books on the table.
I pick up the books. One is green and the other red. Inside the cover of the red book, it is carefully written, “This is the diary of Elizabeth Montgomery.” I don’t need to look to know that the other is mine.
The Past
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