Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Dr Rick · 02-17-2003, 11:12 AM

Remember the day you got to hug Bugs Bunny at Disneyland?

lisarea · 02-17-2003, 12:52 PM

No, but I have a very clear memory of having a long, pleasant chat with a talking daddy longlegs that was sitting on the gas meter at my grandparents' farm.

What I like about this study--and my own little 'childhood memory'--is the fact that they're provably false. Previous studies, of the lost in a shopping mall variety, were too plausible, and subjects defended the story, even after the ruse was revealed.

It's almost funny, until you realize that false memory syndrome puts people in jail--and even the electric chair.

echidna · 02-17-2003, 07:03 PM

Good article.

spacedOut · 02-17-2003, 07:23 PM

Carl Sagan had much to say about false memory in his excellent book: The Demon Haunted World...

Strawberry · 02-18-2003, 01:33 AM

I realized recently that I've gradually expanded several stories I've been telling since I was a little kid so that they barely reflect what originally happened. But for a long time, I had myself convinced that my fabrications were true. Boy, did I ever do a reality check when I realized that...it kind of scared me that I believed things that I knew in the back of my mind weren't true. (Kind of like the way I used to halfheartedly accept religion, I guess...

)

Vorkosigan · 02-18-2003, 02:16 AM

My own uncomfortable experience with memory...I have very clear memories of the Peace Corps and the events that I experienced in my two years there. I lost my diary, though, on my way back, in the US. More than a decade later, I found it again. And found that my memories were large self-justificatory fantasies....we have much more faith in our memory than our abilities warrant.

Vorkosigan

02-17-2003, 11:12 AM	#1
Dr Rick Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: USA Posts: 5,393	Fake memories are easy to plant Remember the day you got to hug Bugs Bunny at Disneyland?

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02-17-2003, 12:52 PM	#2
lisarea Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Broomfield, Colorado, USA Posts: 5,550	No, but I have a very clear memory of having a long, pleasant chat with a talking daddy longlegs that was sitting on the gas meter at my grandparents' farm. What I like about this study--and my own little 'childhood memory'--is the fact that they're provably false. Previous studies, of the lost in a shopping mall variety, were too plausible, and subjects defended the story, even after the ruse was revealed. It's almost funny, until you realize that false memory syndrome puts people in jail--and even the electric chair.

02-17-2003, 07:03 PM	#3
echidna Veteran Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,832	Good article.

02-17-2003, 07:23 PM	#4
spacedOut Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Heart of Dixie Posts: 104	Carl Sagan had much to say about false memory in his excellent book: The Demon Haunted World...

02-18-2003, 01:33 AM	#5
Strawberry Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Lancaster, PA/Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 627	I realized recently that I've gradually expanded several stories I've been telling since I was a little kid so that they barely reflect what originally happened. But for a long time, I had myself convinced that my fabrications were true. Boy, did I ever do a reality check when I realized that...it kind of scared me that I believed things that I knew in the back of my mind weren't true. (Kind of like the way I used to halfheartedly accept religion, I guess... )

02-18-2003, 02:16 AM	#6
Vorkosigan Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Barrayar Posts: 11,866	My own uncomfortable experience with memory...I have very clear memories of the Peace Corps and the events that I experienced in my two years there. I lost my diary, though, on my way back, in the US. More than a decade later, I found it again. And found that my memories were large self-justificatory fantasies....we have much more faith in our memory than our abilities warrant. Vorkosigan

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