Reading Consciousness Explained Part 2: Short Circuit

How does memory work? What does memory record? Does memory record conscious experience, or does it record the sensory input that causes conscious experience?

It could be (A) that memory records conscious experience. Let's say I see a computer screen. So light waves enter my eyes, my eyes send messages to my brain via my neurons, and then I experience a vision of a computer screen, and then the information from my conscious mind is written back to my brain and recorded in my memory.

Or, it could be that (B) the "store" to memory, "short-circuits" the conscious mind, or in other words, memory is a record of the sensory (or emotional etc.) input, but not a direct record of my conscious experiences. When the visual message gets to my brain, my brain records the message in my memory and additionally also sends it to my conscious mind.

B sounds very reasonable (which is not to say that A is unreasonable). However, it has philosophical and spiritual consequences that are a little bit surprising. It implies that in a sense, all memory is fictional. It does not recall an experience from a record of that experience, but rather creates a conscious experience of memory from circumstantial evidence.