Avish Week 16 - I remember...or not
We find ourselves relying on our memory for, well, almost everything. But how reliable is it? I, for one have a LOT of experience with the art of *forgetting*. “My name’s ____.” One hour later I’m trying to call out to him and my mind is just loading and coming up with a blank. Another time: “Remember to bring in the package!” “Did you bring the package?” “What package?”
Human memory really isn’t as reliable as people may think. So then why do we trust it so much? After all, we use the memory of one or a few people in court as tangible evidence. Sometimes, just the words of a single person are enough to convict somebody. For some reason, people hold beliefs that reinforce many myths about memory. An academic review written in 2014 discusses a few of these myths and what people think of them:
As seen in the above chart, the majority of people believe in myths that human memory is “like a video camera,” that “hypnosis is useful” in criminal trials, and a good percent believe that memories are permanent and good enough to convict someone.
Hi Avish, this is definitely a topic I'd like to know more about, as my memory is tragically awful: let's just say I name-tag all my possessions for a reason...The academic review you cite is really interesting. I was surprised to learn that a large percentage of people believe human memory works like a video camera; if that's true for them, I'm jealous. But perhaps I'm more alarmed how many people believe hypnosis is effective. I have never considered the repercussions of commonly held beliefs about memory on criminal trials, and you have effectively argued for better education about this topic with clear reasoning and numerous examples. Thanks for a thought-provoking blog.
ReplyDeleteHey Avish! This topic was quite interesting to read about, and I found that as I read it, I may be apart of the problem. I rely on my memory a lot, obviously but sort of to the point where I convince myself that my version of the truth is the ultimate truth. I think though the reason, as your study proved, that most people trust their memory so much is that the alternative is unthinkable: not being able to trust your past memories and experiences seems like a pretty terrible deal. There will always be multiple versions of the truth and in turn, I would go so far as to argue that there isn't one big truth for each scenario. All those little versions of it are all simultaneously the truth and not the truth, if that makes sense. And frankly, though I do believe that the human perception is almost completely untrustworthy, that each person should and will staunchly believe their own perception. It is the only way that we can sustain our realities. But I think that it should be done under the assumption and open mindedness that our realities are the whole truth. Clearly, your blog has made me think quite a lot. Anyway, I loved how much this blog made me reflect and its factual basis; I look forward to reading more of your work in the future!
ReplyDeleteHello Avish! I can totally relate to those everyday moments of forgetting. I cannot count how many times I have been in a conversation with someone and completely blanked on their name, even though they just introduced themselves. What is really concerning is how the unreliability of our memory scales up in the courtroom. When I was researching for my POAS presentation, I read many articles about how some men were falsely accused of being Ted Bundy due to unreliable witness accounts. It is unsettling to think that a person’s fate could be determined by a single, unreliable memory. The graphs you provided were particularly eye opening, and it was interesting to see how most experts strongly disagree with common misconceptions that the public has about memory. I enjoyed reading your blog this week and hope to read more of your work in the future!
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