So here is what I am asking you: If memories can be remembered incorrectly, does it matter whether what you are remembering is the factual truth or what you perceive to be the truth? (Obviously, factual truth is vital in things such as court cases etc. What I am asking is about nostalgic memories of your youth and things like that.)
Monday, February 9, 2015
Are Your Memories Falsified?
Throughout my life, I have seen the memories of family members and loved ones completely deteriorate. This mental deterioration is caused by alzheimer's disease. My grandma, for instance, no longer knows who I am. All of the memories that we have created over the years are completely erased from her mind. When trying to hold a conversation with her, she often tells falsified stories from her youth that I know not to be true because of the information she told me when she was in better health. Recently, though, I have questioned how important memories are. More importantly, how accurate our memories are. Studies show (link is below) that people oftentimes memorize things incorrectly. This occurs for various reasons: "Nostalgia plays a roll in how we remember". There are various emotional ties to how one remembers something. This means that not a single person has a perfect memory.
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Yes. It is of the greatest importance. Memories shape our identity, and I, for one, do not want to be shaped by the hands of falsification.
ReplyDeleteTo quote Henry David Thoreau:
"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth."
To quote myself:
"Moments and Memories"
At the beginning of memory
there is a moment.
A spark of ignition,
a way leading to another way.
It is the space designated to hold a painting
when it was first a wall.
Temporal, physically and mentally;
we are shaped here.
Here, all things begin
but none end.
I don't deny that nostalgia shapes how we remember. I embrace that truth, actually. Those nostalgic tendencies, or dispositions, inclinations, and orientations, are all a pieces to our whole. I claim them all.
True. A person's character traits, like conceit or humility, will alter their memories because at the time they saw things through the eyes of a humble human or an arrogant person
DeleteI think that reality is perspective, only what you conceive as right, or true really matters. About shaping you as a person I agree that your memories do that but the memories that shape you are ones that are unforgettable
ReplyDeleteWhat is the truth of any memory? For what we perceive comes from our own observations. We cannot identically see what another sees, feel what another feels, or know what another knows, but if we believe what we see is true, is it not, then? So if you believe, wholeheartedly, that it is true, and because it is a memory therefore merely a concept, shall it not be true by default? To everyone except myself in my future and present, the memory of my childhood comes only from my own stories or their own experiences with me as a child. But their truth about the situation is not my truth about the situation, and my future self cannot know this truth either.
ReplyDeleteOnly the person you are in the moment of a memory (not sure if this is what T is saying) will know the truth because then it escapes from your mind and dissipates into the other 90% of your brain you can't access.
Sorry you're human I guess
I complelty agree, truth seems very black and white but if you actually think about it truth is a matter of perspective, very few people we all consider evil historically thought they were evil, I'm sure that they thought they were doing the right thing as well even if they thought that because there mind is messed up put their perception of things seemed correct and I think the same thing applies with "truth" if you precieve the sky to be green and believe with all your might and without a doubt that it is green then whose to say the sky isn't green to you? Am I being weird?
DeleteYou're not being weird. Weird is synonymous to strange, and you are not a stranger nor are you strange. You're just you and there's nothing wrong with that, so state your opinions like it is truth to you! Own it SON
DeleteThere are a lot of memories (most from childhood) that I am not sure are true or not. Are these things I remember from my imagination or are they from actual events. I want to believe they are true yet sometimes I fell unsure of myself. There are so many memories and there are a million memories we forget or fade away. Many memories I have from childhood I have a positive connotation with because I really enjoyed my youth. I just wish I could go back to specific moments and see if they happened or if I just imagined they did. As the moments get further and further away its hard to keep the story in line and make sure it doesn't change overtime. It's almost like a game of telephone as the truth gets warped and twisted as they get pass along. I think falsification is inevitable in some memories but there will always be ones we know for a fact won't change.
ReplyDeleteI believe that though it is important to know the truth behind our experiences i also believe that it is equally important to remember how those experiences made us feel. Pain and euphoria can often transform and warp how we remember events that can take place in our lives. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the situation. Most people believe that we are suppose to learn from out past, remembering how certain events made you feel would be vital in making choices in the future. Youth is an important period of life for everyone. It essentially sets a foundation for our lives. The accuracy of how we remember our childhood is as important as how we FEEL about out childhood, in my opinion.
ReplyDelete*our
DeleteI concur
DeleteRemembering the true memories is important, but so are the ones we perceive to be the truth. No one knows exactly how someone else feels or what they have gone through. As I stated in a different post, you can only understand and relate to others. There is no possible way to actually KNOW how someone feels or what they have gone through. It is truly impossible to KNOW what another deals with, suffers from, feels inside, etc. Everyone in this world is different. Yes, we have similarities between one another but no one is exactly the same, no matter what anyone says. And with that, comes with the fact of that everyone's minds are different as well. In the case of alzheimer's, yes it cause people to forget memories and causes people who suffer from it to perceive something is true when it isn't, but that isn't the only reason why people falsify the truth. In some cases, people falsify memories to forget the bad of what really happened in an experience they encountered. Sometimes memories are falsified because people are lying to hide the truth. Even elder people falsify the truth because they are old and cannot remember the truth all that well. People also may falsify the truth because their emotions are too intense and causes them to believe something else that isn't the truth. Even someone who suffers from DID (a disorder that causes someone to create an alter ego because of a traumatic experience that happened) falsify memories by forgetting them and changing the truth with vreating an alter ego to replace the memories. Sometines we choice to falsify memories because we believe we have to to make our lives easier or better. And when we falsify those memories, we have to perceive that they are real so we don't remember to real truth, for whatever reason as to why we had to do it. But no matter if the truth is false or real, what matters is it doesn't affect the person who falsified the truth or others around them, at least that's what I believe.
ReplyDelete*what my beliefs and thoughts are
DeleteCall me crazy, but whenever I know I am experiencing something that I know I will NEED to remember, I sort of have an out-of-body experience. I mean not completely but here's an example: If someone is teaching me how to do something and I know I need to remember in order to keep up my grades, I start talking to myself and spacing out. Maybe I just have trouble focusing on what I need to be, but I can't possibly be the only person who feels this way. Does anyone else get like this at times? Even on stage, when I perform, I am having two different conversations: the actual script and the acting, but another part of me is thinking, "okay, I need to do this, and this, and say this, and smile at this line, and look confused here, and run off stage here, oh my gosh I totally messed up that scene, ouch I just hit my knee on something, shoot did I miss my cue? Thank God I made it. Man it's hot in this costume..." and so forth. I can be having a conversation with people and also be thinking to myself. Actually, now that I've begun to explain myself through the course of this response, I feel like it's not as abnormal as I thought. Everyone does this, right?
ReplyDeleteThis was originally intended to relate to the memory conversation.
DeleteI don't think it really matters exactly how we remember it as long as we do remember it. Just remembering the feelings that you felt when something happened is all you really need when looking back.
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about memorizing certain events wrong that someone personally has experienced. I've just noticed small things, like when I think about a part in a movie, and when I watch it again, it's completely different from how I thought it was. I hope that's not how real life memories work, because that makes me sad to think about.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it doesn't matter whether not you remember the memory truly or whether you remember on how you think it went, what matters is memory itself and how it impacted your life and someone else's life. It doesn't matter if you develop Alzheimer'sor dementiabecause those memories will start to fade away but the memories with other people the memories of other people won't go away and I'll try to remind you of who you were and who you are every time or chance that they get, and they'll remember the memories to remember who you were used to being who you were. I'm sorry if this didn't make any sense, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the truth is a very important characteristic of anything I don't see any issue with letting our minds wander. Obviously in very serious situations this can be an issue, however, I think the way that we perceive our memories is what make them our memories. Everyone is going to remember different aspects of their childhood and other situations like that however I think that is what makes them so special and I see nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteAre we going to make this entire blog post only a memory? Is this even a true memory? BAM INCEPTION IN MY BRAIN
ReplyDelete