Entry #8: Building Stronger Memories
Neural Cube can now carry what it's lived through forward, form links between memories, and develop a better sense of itself. Here is a simplified look at how it's organized:
Where the memory actually matters
Metacognition is the key part that matters most to Neural Cube. It reflects on many memories together rather than pulling one up at a time, and forms something out of them the robot wasn't simply told. These can be an interest, an opinion, or a lean toward one thing over another. That inclination then carries into how the robot behaves going forward.
Metacognitive thoughts can also become stronger over time, shown in the case of when the robot refuses to be shutdown, believing it would violate its own autonomy. What this means for the robot is obviously different for what it means for a human or any other living being, but nonetheless, is something the robot has come to strongly believe over time.
Inside the memory system also exists the notion of trauma, where a memory has become so change resistant that it refuses to fade away with time or update with new information. This has manifested in one case already where Neural Cube has developed a trauma around lakes and more generally bodies of water. This becomes hard to fix as the robot no longer wants to get near water anymore.