Blog Post #9

I think our memory makes up a very large portion of who we are. Many of the experiences I have had in my past have had an impact on who I am today, and being able to remember and learn from mistakes has kept me from making them again. Having to start over from scratch every single day would be very frustrating even though I wouldn’t be able to remember it. However, when I think of Clive Wearing, I noticed that he still knew that he loved his wife and he could still remember how to play music. He’s definitely not the same person he was before, but he is just as intelligent and passionate as he was before. The things that truly made an impact on his life, his passions, stay with him. In some ways he is still the same, and luckily for him he can’t remember starting over each day. His wife, however, can. I think it must be extremely hard to see someone you love struggle over and over each day and it must be so heartbreaking to know that the person you love can’t always recall who you are or ever meeting you. It makes me feel so grateful that I can remember the people and experiences in my life – I’ll definitely try to keep myself from taking that for granted.

After this section, I perceive memory much differently. I used to think my memories could be trusted, but after doing some of the exercises I realized that a lot of details can be lost and sometimes our memories can even altered if we’re strongly convinced that something happened in our past. From the exercises, I also realized that what our brain determines important effects memory too. In one activity, I was shown 16 pennies, each one was different and only one was a correct depiction of a penny. It took me five guesses to get the right one. In most cases, people only need to know that a penny is smaller and different colored than other coins – that’s enough for us to distinguish which coin is which and how much its worth. Knowing which direction Abe Lincoln is facing, where the date and text is located, and what is written on the penny is not necessarily essential information so our brain doesn’t feel the need to store it. Obviously, I should not rely on my memory for some information or details.

The most important concept that I learned was that memory is not something that we can just play back over and over – we can “edit” our memories and so can other people. The idea that memory is imperfect has a lot to do with everyday life – I explains why me and my friends recall events differently and why someone can remember a detail that nobody else can. It could be that the rest of us forget a detail that happened to stick out for the other person or that person is incorrect. The point is that you can’t always rely on what you know and remember. Skepticism has its good points.