{"id":985,"date":"2003-12-10T02:53:35","date_gmt":"2003-12-10T02:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ubuntu.my\/wp30\/archives\/2003\/12\/10\/memories_of_non-existent_events.html"},"modified":"2003-12-10T02:53:35","modified_gmt":"2003-12-10T02:53:35","slug":"memories_of_non-existent_events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/archives\/2003\/12\/10\/memories_of_non-existent_events.html","title":{"rendered":"memories of non-existent events"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘We can implant entirely false memories’<\/a> is an intriguing review of the research of Elizabeth Loftus. Ideas about memory have always intrigued me.<\/p>\n

I’ve been thinking about memory lately because i’m adamently opposed to the concept of trails put forward by Vannevar Bush in “As We May Think.” I know that the construction of our past is not always the same as the actual reality, but i prefer it to the realistic portrayal of experience. Personally, i’m quite happy to not have easy access to the replay of mistakes made. I realize that the memories that i hold are not only the actual events, but the embellishment of the good and the dismissal of the bad. I have a tendency to store all of these details and emotions around joyful activities, while i conveniently forget much beyond the facts of negative ones. I tend to consider this a good thing, although it can cause problems when i cannot stay mad at someone, even when i should for my own sake. But, it always pains me to interact with people who only hold on to the bad.<\/p>\n

This research makes me think crazy thoughts. If you can implant a memory, can you also eliminate memories? For example, what would it mean if someone conveniently forgot that they were abused. Would this be a relief? In what ways are memories a protective force vs. a limiting force?<\/p>\n

Sadly, this all comes down to a philosophical debate about what is best for an individual and society. Do we believe in constructing ‘happiness’ or ‘truth’? And what on earth does either one mean?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘We can implant entirely false memories’ is an intriguing review of the research of Elizabeth Loftus. Ideas about memory have always intrigued me. I’ve been thinking about memory lately because i’m adamently opposed to the concept of trails put forward by Vannevar Bush in “As We May Think.” I know that the construction of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-observations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zephoria.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}