Rishi, Week 15: Having Not-The-Best Memory is Actually Good?
Rishi, Week 15: Having Not-The-Best Memory is Actually Good?
Three out of four prisoners convicted through eyewitness testimony are later acquitted through DNA evidence. An American neuroscientist and author, Lisa Genova, says that “you can be 100 percent confident in your vivid memory” but “still be 100 percent wrong.” The human brain is a notoriously lousy scribe—the “default setting” for our brains is forgetfulness. Many people see memory loss as a bad thing: forgetting key memories of loved ones that have since passed or letting go of significant life moments, but can the loss of memory be a good thing?
Highly superior autobiographical memory (aka hyperthymesia) is a condition in which people can remember their whole life in spectacular detail. Solomon Shereshevsky, a man with the ability in the early 1900s, “felt burdened by excessive and often irrelevant information.” He “had enormous difficulty filtering, prioritizing, and forgetting what he didn’t want or need.” The only way he could find comfort from the mayhem of his daily life was through alcohol, and he later passed away from alcohol-related issues.
Even standard memory can be a crutch in some cases, like dealing with PTSD. Psychiatrists advise patients to avoid PTSD-related triggers, like loud noises or certain smells, bringing back haunting memories. In contrast, Alzheimer’s patients fail to remember things that just happened. Genova says that an effective memory network comprises a “balanc[e]... between data storage and data disposal.” A loss of that balance can have devastating consequences on the quality of life. A perfect memory can become a crutch rather than a helping hand—I think it is important to appreciate the “Goldilocks zone” of memory that most humans have.
I remember watching a video a while back about how most victims and accusers to crimes retell their stories based a lot on credence and how it is very easy for them to be convinced that a certain story is true. This is probably why manipulation interrogations is such a common thread, because when a higher up authority is constantly nagging that a certain sequence of events is correct and holding someone hostage in a cold, desolate room for several hours, our brains can easily reprogram into fully seeing truth in a different memory. I don't know if we can exactly appreciate this, but it is definitely a very cool idea.
ReplyDeleteWow, learning about Solomon Shereshevsky was quite fascinating because I never knew that someone could have a photographic memory. You mention some interesting points about the pros and cons of having an extremely good memory; in my opinion, having a good memory still outweighs having a bad memory. Sure you could remember trauma more if you had an amazing memory but I feel we as humans have a certain level of control over what we focus on. Humans do not make decisions out of straight impulse but we tend to think it over a bit. Thus, I believe having a supernatural memory I use that power to remember the most vital information and my happy experiences. I can use this memory to learn new skills and retain information.
ReplyDeleteHey Rishi, your talk about how really accurate memory is something desired by so many but overwhelming for those who have it reminds me of a book where the main character was telepathic. Everyone thinks that they would love to have the power to read everyone minds, but in reality, it was so exhausting having to process the millions of arbitrary thoughts from everyone around you. Similar too to how a really sharp memory also forces one to remember traumatic events in grave detail, the main character struggled because they often heard things that they never wanted or needed to hear. Even though photographic memory seems absolutely wonderful for studying for tests, I agree with you that it can have repercussions that not many would voluntarily deal with.
ReplyDeleteHi Rishi! I've never considered the possibility of excellent memory, or even standard memory, being a burden. In Shereshevsky's case, I cannot imagine having so much information in my head to the point where it would be difficult to filter. The idea of balancing data storage and data disposal is interesting, as my mind tends to favor the disposal aspect over the storage aspect.
ReplyDeleteHi Rishi,
ReplyDeleteIf I remembered everything I ever felt or thought or saw, I would never stop remembering. I probably would not be able to change my mentality if I am constantly reminded of why I thought or felt a certain way. I would always be vividly empathizing with myself. Of course, there should be a way to use this to my advantage, but it seems awfully difficult. Imagine finding the perfect comeback to an argument you had a month ago or replaying conversations trying to figure out what you should have said or how you should have said it. Solemn probably experienced this tenfold. Unfortunately, having a perfect memory is not being able to memorize anything and ace any exam. Solomon certainly felt the weight of all his memories slowly pushing him to sustain his alcohol addiction.
Hi Rishi! As always, your blogs are incredibly eye-opening! After reading your blog, I have so much appreciation for my current memory, but mainly the fact that I can choose or work to forget certain memories. People with hyperthymesia cannot choose, and are forced to live their reality and past all day, every day. As for people with Alzheimers, they cannot choose what they forget. Hyperthymesia and namely Shereshevsky’s case scares me; the fact that I have so much readily-available information that I cannot filter out a specific case would ruin my academic life, or at least make it so, so much harder to take tests and exams.
ReplyDeleteHi Rishi! What you bring up is honestly something I frankly never would have thought of. The fact that we always tend to complain about not having amazing memory, especially since memory helps us a ton for tests and memorizing information in rigorous courses filled with information such as APUSH and AP Bio, or basically any AP. That being said, I never thought I’d be able to think of having a great memory as a burden. Now that you bring it up though, I find it interesting to see whether it is actually a burden or not. In the case you pointed out, obviously its hard to remember information, I don’t think I’d want to have so much information that I’m unable to filter information out as I feel like that’s just a bigger problem than keeping in your memory what you might know. I’m not sure, but definitely a topic I’m going to be thinking about for a while. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Rishi! In psych we watched a video of people with hyperthymesia and the way they could recall anything from any given day. Though they said that sometimes it can be a burden, which I can imagine it to be. They also said that they can remember all the details of everyone they met. For the people that don't know they have hyperthymesia, they overthink the reason as to why these individuals remember such small details about themselves in such detail (which I find quite hilarious).
ReplyDeleteHi Rishi, I agree. Having the burden of remembering everything exactly may come in handy on an exam but it can be constantly triggering in cases of crime or abuse. Even on a day to day basis, it would be hard to function with memories of the past constantly flooding your mind in relation to any similar stimuli. The process of selective filtering is critical. Although I am a little disappointed at how forgetful I am, I think I would rather be a little forgetful than remember every single moment of my life.
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