"But we tend to think that memory is objectively truthful, on analogy with a digital recording."
— Bloom, Paul (b. 1963)
Author
Work Title
Date
May 27, 2010
Metaphor
"But we tend to think that memory is objectively truthful, on analogy with a digital recording."
Metaphor in Context
Take memory. It fades over time and is distorted by our beliefs, desires and interests. Events that occur long after the original experience can distort your recall. Simply talking about something that happened distorts your memory; you come to remember not the event itself, but the story you told. This is why memories of significant events — where were you on 9/11? — are hardly ever accurate in the long run, and why people sometimes come to sincerely believe that their spouse’s anecdotes really happened to them. But we tend to think that memory is objectively truthful, on analogy with a digital recording. This illusion explains why we take eyewitness testimony way too seriously, particularly if the person is confident (studies show that even highly confident witnesses give incorrect identifications a surprisingly high proportion of the time), and we are often unforgiving when memories turn out to be wrong.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Paul Bloom, "What We Miss..." The New York Times Book Review. May 27, 2010. <Link to NYTimes.com>
Date of Entry
06/07/2010
