4 ms·
The honest truth is that you shouldn't. People treat memory like a video recording. It is more like a play that is reenacted every time you remember it, where
by SkyBelow 7y ago
The honest truth is that you shouldn't. People treat memory like a video recording. It is more like a play that is reenacted every time you remember it, where props are pulled out of storage but sometimes the wrong prop is pulled out and yet nothing feels wrong. For example, maybe you remember the day you lost your keys and found them between the pottery. What exactly did that pottery look like? Pull the pottery prop out of storage, which is based off of the most recent memory of there being only two pots. You now have a memory of finding the keys between your two pots.
Happen to find a third pot that went missing and place it back on the stand? Next time you remember the incident with the keys, the pottery prop pulled out is the one involving 3 pots. So you clearly remember finding your keys between three plots.
Well what about the old memory? You pull up the memory of a memory, but each memory is generated with props and there is a chance you end up remembering your original memory had 3 pots as well.
The more trivial the detail, the more likely you'll only keep around the most recent prop only and thus have a false memory. There is a lot of psychological research into people watching cars driving where the psychologist then falsify memories of the vehicles (something that is never called out as being worth remembering at the start of the experiment). It works decently well in adults. It works horrifyingly well in kids.
- ssully 7y agoIn Ted Chiang's latest short story collection "Exhalation" there is a story called "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling"[1] that kind of touches on what you are talking about. In the story, one of the characters is writing up a critique about a new technology that constantly records video from a persons perspective and the video can be recalled at will (like memory). In his critique, he uses a memory (traditional - not using this new technology) he has of a large argument him and his daughter had. This moment/memory was a crucial part in his life and really defined how he viewed himself and his relationship with his daughter. I won't go into it, but the reality of the event and how he remembers it is very similar to your point - specifically, that memory is more like an imperfect play, replay and biased by your recall. I highly recommend the book, but that story in general. As with most of his stories, he takes a premise that seems generic on it's face and twists it in ways that you wouldn't expect. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_of_Fact,_the_Truth_of_Feeling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_of_Fact,_the_Truth_o...
- carterehsmith 7y ago"The honest truth is that you shouldn't. " (believe your own memory) That does not seem like a good way to live. Imagine "not trusting your memory" tomorrow morning, and refusing to recognize your bedroom, your spouse, your kids, family, your house, car, coworkers etc. Seems like one would go insane, quickly. So yeah, I guess you do need to trust your memory - but judiciously.
- ccvannorman 7y agoI think I remember you challenging my assumptions with your comment, but I can't be sure. Tomorrow I'll probably trust in a fallback model for what I think your comment's intention was.
- JamesBarney 7y agoYeah for a decade I had an extremely vivid memory of my grandmother spanking me. But in my 20s I once brought it up when my grandmother mentioned never having spanked anyone. She denied it, said it was my mother and I got confirmation from all of my uncle's they were never spanked. Really made me realize how untrustworthy even the most vivid memories are.