Memory Failure and Decision Making: The case of Gambling in Australia

For computers, memory is essential to continued operation. Similarly, the human individual’s functioning is severely compromised by large-scale memory failure, which can be a characteristic of many diseases and injuries. Some views of the relationship between memory and mental process as seen by classical and modern writers are considered. Within human society, a similar relationship exists. As a case study, one can interpret gambling in Australia as an activity that can be very harmful to the individual and to society, and its continued practice requires memory failure in terms of mounting past losses. Whether the memory failure is deliberate or involuntary is a question for future qualitative research.