Can you trust your memory? This neuroscientist isn't so sure | André Fenton
//Summary - Level-C2//
Neuroscientist André Fenton explores the dynamic interplay between memory, perception, and reality. Fenton argues that memories are not fixed but constantly influenced by experiences and mindsets, emphasising the importance of humility and empathy in acknowledging memory's fallibility. The brain's complex processes shape memories and perceptions, involving billions of neurons and synaptic adjustments. Fenton highlights the intertwined nature of what we know, the mindset we recall from, and the cues used for remembering. Recognising the subjectivity of memory, he advocates for openness to diverse perspectives and evidence for a more nuanced understanding of truth.
ECPHORIC MODEL OF MEMORY
Semantic: What you know
Episodic: The mindset you try to remember from
Procedural: The cues that are used for recollection
There are three kinds of memory that all work together to shape your reality. Neuroscientist André Fenton explains.
Neuroscientist André Fenton discusses the intricate relationship between memory, perception, and reality, shedding light on the complexity of human cognition.
Fenton believes memories are not fixed but are continually modified by our experiences and mindsets.
In his mind, this underscores the importance of humility and empathy in acknowledging the fallibility of our memories and the need to consider different perspectives in our quest for truth.
A)
It's a fascinating question: how do time and space affect memory? Conversely, how does memory affect our perception of time and space? The representations of time and play that we build up in the brain form a framework within which we experience the world so that we can gather from the experiences and memories we keep.
B)
At the same time, the memories we keep modify and change the very substance of that framework so that our subsequent experiences in the future are based on that modified framework. And so there's a fundamental interaction between our experience and how we approach the world to collect new experiences that we turn into memories.
C)
One of the things I feel privileged about studying neuroscience, and memory in particular, is that I have the insight into my memory to realise that I can't trust it completely. Based on my memory, I will not argue that some events happened one way or another.
D)
And so if you take a bunch of people and you allow those people to have a deep belief that their memories are knowable and trustworthy, those people will interact very differently than another bunch of people who recognise that their memories are probably not a good representation of what happened - or even of what you're currently perceiving.
F)
So, there are just under 100 billion neurons in the human brain. A neuron is better or worse at communicating with the neuron it's connected to or any of the 10,000 neurons it's connected to.
G)
And these synapses tend to strengthen when they're used repeatedly and effectively. And if they're not used repeatedly, or if they're used infrequently, or if they're used at the wrong time, then those synapses tend to weaken. And the strengthening and weakening of those synapses is an active biochemical process that makes those adjustments.
H)
If these adjustments persist, and if these memories persist across different classes of information and both areas of the brain, then cognitive psychologists have known for a very long time that mindset is crucial to how we perceive and remember things from the world.
I)
So, let's take a concrete example: Endel Tulving suggests that when you remember something, there's an interaction of three crucial things: What you know, the mindset from which you are trying to remember, and the cues you use to remember. And so these three are fundamentally and intimately intertwined. You can't remember one without the other, in a sense.
J)
So, the fundamental fact is that when we experience the world and have thoughts, we use our brains. And the brain is a self-organising system.
Its use modifies it. We're not just reproducing what we've experienced. We're reconstructing and building a new experience. We tend to develop these experiences according to the stories that make sense. Even at the level of perception, we can all experience what appears to be the same thing.
K)
For example, look out the window or down the street. Everyone will focus on different aspects of what they can remember. And so, of course, we have a separate record of what happened.
Then, when we retell and tell these stories, we're reconstructing these events from what we remember from the fragments of our memory, and we're building stories around our mindset - and the stories are triggered, of course, by the cues we use to retell these stories.
L)
So many of us and the things we engage in are trying to understand what I would call "truth", something we can all agree on and recognise as meaningful, honest and universal.
So how do you achieve that? By recognising that we all have access to that truth, we all have a distorted perception, and we will later have a distorted understanding and recollection of that perception called memory.
M)
And if you fundamentally believe this, it requires that you act in the world with a certain sense of humility and empathy for others. If you are open to listening and self-correction, you should be because you know you can't tell.
N)
So when new evidence emerges, when a new point of view emerges, by being willing to consider it, by being open to what is available for understanding, we have at least a chance of converging not on what I think is right or what you think is correct, but on what might be true.
Can you trust your memory? This neuroscientist isn't so sure | André Fenton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH3xn9jIGJU
Can you trust your memory? This neuroscientist isn't so sure
https://bigthink.com/perception-box/memory/
Can you trust your memory? This neuroscientist isn't so sure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbe0OZVZRiA
Add info No1)
5 Steps to Overcome Trauma and Phobia with NLP Timeline
https://psychology-japan.com/nlp-timeline.html
A)
We can be considered animals with some emotional scars, big or small.
You can be seriously injured at once. Even minor wounds may not heal, and you may get them repeatedly.
B)
This emotional damage is called 'trauma', and in 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised its diagnostic manual for the first time in 19 years, revealing that trauma affects a broader range of mental illnesses than previously thought. I came up with the idea that it has an impact.
Various methods of treating trauma and the phobias it causes have been tried, and research continues. One of the most effective is NLP, which approaches the brain from multiple angles.
This time, we will focus on the critical timelines within NLP and introduce step-up techniques to use the NLP timeline effectively effectively.
C)
Let's understand the timeline
NLP is a psychological method developed based on the results of multifaceted research and analysis of the brain, including psychology, linguistics, cybernetic theory and systems theory, focusing on physiology and control science.
In other words, it is no exaggeration to call it an ``instruction manual for the brain''.
D)
Among them, the timeline recognises the flow of time as a single line (drawing a timeline on the floor, etc.). While walking along that line, you can draw different points (your past self, your present self, (choose different points according to your purpose, such as your future self, childhood, and adolescence), describe what you felt, face the factors by reliving the experience, or change the elements themselves to lighten your mind. It is a method to improve and eliminate traumas and phobias.
E)
Let's go through the timeline
When you are at a point on your timeline, even if you vaguely feel and think about it, it isn't easy to approach the deeper parts of your psychology.
So, let's try to feel it by asking ourselves the following questions.
F)
The question follows: we will recognise the scene more realistically by imagining the five human senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
What kind of scene?
What kind of gesture is it? (If the impression of a particular part is vital, for example, "hands", make a gesture that focuses on that part).
What sounds do you hear?
What kind of voice does it have?
the feeling when you touch it
The smell that wafted
Things related to taste
G)
Rewrite your memory
Once you are on the timeline, try rewriting your memory.
When you think of rewriting memories, the first things that might come to mind are images of "false things" and "not reality", but the first thing to realise is that people accept things with a false sense of reality daily.
F)
The following are typical:
Recognising only part of the information and deleting other information ("erasing")
Perceiving things in the wrong way ("distortion")
They are treating something that has only happened once as something familiar in society creates psychological constraints ('generalisation').
G)
Correcting these things and recognising them again is "rewriting memory".
If you are against "rewriting", you can think of it as re-recognising.
Many people struggle with this step, even if you can follow the timeline. Hence, the secret to improving is to learn the tricks by attending expert instruction or training seminars.
Add info No2)
1. Do you think memories from childhood are more or less reliable than recent memories?
->
Yes, I think so. Because my childhood memories are essential, I think about them repeatedly.
For example, it's a memory of my grandmother.
My mother worked at my father's company and often spent time with her grandmother. Her beliefs and character have left a strong impression on my memory.
I sometimes imagine what my grandmother would do when I'm at a crossroads or facing a significant problem.
My answer is that my childhood memories are much more meaningful than my recent memories.
2. Can you recall a situation where you were convinced you remembered something correctly, only to find out later that your memory was inaccurate?
->
For example, when I went to a place for the first time in a while, I asked my husband, "We've been here before, right?" he replied, "It's my first time."
It means I came with someone else's friend.
My husband says, "Didn't you come with your old boyfriend?" we get into an awkward situation.
3. How much do you trust your own memory in daily life?
->
I basically can't trust my recent memory.
So, I take notes, tell people, or enter what I must do in the meeting notification on my calendar.
However, when I have an essential experience, such as attending a wonderful concert that leaves a lasting impression or having a fun dinner with a close friend, I will never forget that memory.
