I'm reading a book right now called "Your Brain is Playing Tricks on You" and they mention a psychologist in Europe who was convicted on planting trauma memories so she could hook clients in expensive therapy. You've also got examples of memory insertion in the Satanic Cult panic of the 1980s. Even first person witness testimony has fallen out of favor due to impressionability of memory.
I also explored the concept of memories not as movies but as threads of objects in an essay earlier this year (which also gets woven into my novel)
My siblings and I have "memories" of things where we all basically agree on the details of what happened and yet disagree about who the event happened to or who did what. I found it so interesting when I learned that each time you access a memory, it changes a little. And then there's so much richness to consider about how unsaid things affect memory.
Nice. The intersection of psychology and neuroscience might not be completely in your wheelhouse, but I bet that's a really comfortable stretch piece, should you choose to pursue it. Let me know if you'd like any help, if you do go down that path! I'm certainly passionate about how we remember things.
Thanks! Neuroscience interests me a lot and sometimes I include the research in my work but it's definitely a "growing edge" for me that I'm not always confident on. I would love to collab with you on something around memory. Probably not til the new year. I'll reach out!
Early next year sounds great; I'm in no rush. My own little circle is also slowly expanding, and I want to make sure I understand whatever it is I'm writing about well.
My first memory is being in the backseat of our car (VW Bug) picking up my mom and newborn sister from the hospital (I was 2 years 10 months old).
I remember some kid knocking out my front tooth with a metal play shovel (nothing was plastic back in the day). I remember the kid demanding a toy I had. I went to hand it to him and the next thing I remember is my front tooth in the palm of my hand. I don't remember being hit. I had to be about 4.
As a grandfather, I usually get to interact with my grandchildren everyday, riding bikes to school, taking them to after school classes, doc visits, etc. I look at how much they are experiencing life and how little they remember long term. Brings me to thinking how much I have forgotten and how something comes to mind that I haven’t thought about for decades, often when an old friend dies and some snapshots are brought out of the archives.
I am trying to write some of these old memories down. My brain may well be the only place they currently reside, and who knows how long they'll stay in there, you know?
I had a completely false memory inserted by my much older brother. Who, as part of his "get out of trouble" plan, convinced me was the correct order of events. I was around 6 but the false memory persisted until he corrected it when I was 19!
The one thing I want to be able to remember is my dreams. They're ephemeral shreds that dissolve like fog in the morning sun the moment you wake up... and it seems there's a specific reason for that. It's the way our brains work, and it's also why children remember many more details from their dreams than adults.
lol I just woke up and remember my dream in vivid detail. I guess my subconscious wanted to prove there’s still a phone line open to my conscious mind 😅 I was on vacation in some tiny treehouse-like loft house with the fresh air blowing in through the windows. I could actually feel the wind. Separate lightbulbs illuminated the different parts of the studio. Outside, it was morning and a heavy fog was hanging over the trees and houses but people were already up and about
My first memory also involves a wound, my sister and I playing chase around our rectangular wooden coffee table and me falling on a corner. That got me one stitch to the forehead. It must be true-I still have the scar 🤣.
Also, thank you so much for sharing the details of my first workshop. Much appreciated, my friend!
Well, as a historian, I know that the interpretation of it always changes because of the discovery of new ideas and the actions of new people. A book on the Roman Empire published in 1923 will not be exactly the same as one published in 2023, but they are both useful snapshots of how that time period was viewed in different contexts.
I have some tangentially related thoughts regarding films and shows about historical events and time periods. I've often assumed that the further in the future from the time being depicted, the more the film becomes a product of its current time and less like the period it is depicting. Try as it may.
I've come to mistrust modern movies about past eras or events because they seem to bring in too many modern sensibilities.
Now you'd assume the opposite to be true: the closer to the time period, the more likely it is to depict the period accurately because it is more based on living memory. For example if you watch a movie about the 1960s made in the 1970s, things were still pretty fresh.
But filmmaking has improved tremendously in some ways such as realism. And nowadays, the acting from decades past, seems stilted and contrived by today's standards. Or was it a reasonable portrayal of the way we were? Because as time passes and we get older, we forget how much we've changed in the way we behave, think and interact, of how life was before, and how much society has changed. And our memories get clouded in the process.
I will end this meandering thought stream by simply observing that while memory can both help and hinder the process, it remains a tricky business to "get the past right."
I like what you said here. To throw in my 2 cents: people are absolutely much, much better at acting normal today - speaking the way actual humans speak- than they were during the 70s, 80s, or 90s. There was a bit of a revolution in the 2000s and on into the early 2010s with TV. People are just much, much better at acting today than 50 years ago.
That is true. But the art of acting has changed though too. Possibly because it evolved fron the stage - without getting into all that implies. Even if you listen to old media interviews, even common people were generally more formal and polite and dare I say humble.
Yes, I agree. Language and behavior has changed, but acting is a lot more candid, especially given the rise of "reality TV" of late. People see hours and hours of footage of folks just having conversations, and they also have conversations themselves, so they see what they should sound like.
Acting is a more refined science now, too, just like any field.
My very first memory is also of a bee and adults trying to fix things with dubious treatments. I was at my grandma's summerhouse near Kiev (was probably around 4), eating a strawberry or some other stuff from her garden. I took it out of my mouth and the bee flew in. I even have a cartoonish memory of the bee with cartoonishly exaggerated giant eyes.
Luckily, the bee flew in and out without actually stinging me at all.
But now I'm no longer sure of my memory either. Two people having similar bee-related "first memories"? Very sus!
My new working theory is that you and I had the same randomly assigned memory story implanted by our Matrix overlords. They really should try harder to diversify the pool of available memories. Maybe get ChatGPT to write some of them.
I appreciate that you caveated that with "if Fast Company is to be trusted." That is my assessment of them as well.
Clearly, Substack has a secret AI that is rewriting our past so that we continue to post every day. That's really the only answer that makes any sense.
Something really interesting often discussed in memory research is that every time you remember something, you remember it slightly differently.
Harkens back to the "neurons that fire together, wire together" and that defines our memory BUT sometimes a couple extra ones join in, creating slight modifications to memory. It's pretty cool stuff.
(Disclaimer: it's a lot more complicated than this, but unless you're planning on researching the topic, I don't think it's important to get that deep into the weeds)
Super super neat stuff. I'm not sure how much of a deep dive into memory I want to do, but probably a little deeper than today. This stuff is fun to think about!
I'm reading a book right now called "Your Brain is Playing Tricks on You" and they mention a psychologist in Europe who was convicted on planting trauma memories so she could hook clients in expensive therapy. You've also got examples of memory insertion in the Satanic Cult panic of the 1980s. Even first person witness testimony has fallen out of favor due to impressionability of memory.
I also explored the concept of memories not as movies but as threads of objects in an essay earlier this year (which also gets woven into my novel)
https://www.polymathicbeing.com/p/whats-in-a-brain
My siblings and I have "memories" of things where we all basically agree on the details of what happened and yet disagree about who the event happened to or who did what. I found it so interesting when I learned that each time you access a memory, it changes a little. And then there's so much richness to consider about how unsaid things affect memory.
I'm interested in hearing more about how memoires change every time you access them! Have you written about this? if so, please do link here!
I'm actually not sure if I've written directly about this. I definitely should. It's more neuroscience than psychology ... https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2012/09/your-memory-is-like-the-telephone-game/
Nice. The intersection of psychology and neuroscience might not be completely in your wheelhouse, but I bet that's a really comfortable stretch piece, should you choose to pursue it. Let me know if you'd like any help, if you do go down that path! I'm certainly passionate about how we remember things.
Thanks! Neuroscience interests me a lot and sometimes I include the research in my work but it's definitely a "growing edge" for me that I'm not always confident on. I would love to collab with you on something around memory. Probably not til the new year. I'll reach out!
Early next year sounds great; I'm in no rush. My own little circle is also slowly expanding, and I want to make sure I understand whatever it is I'm writing about well.
I think we could do something interesting and worthwhile on this together!
My first memory is being in the backseat of our car (VW Bug) picking up my mom and newborn sister from the hospital (I was 2 years 10 months old).
I remember some kid knocking out my front tooth with a metal play shovel (nothing was plastic back in the day). I remember the kid demanding a toy I had. I went to hand it to him and the next thing I remember is my front tooth in the palm of my hand. I don't remember being hit. I had to be about 4.
Nice one. I have some trauma I sort of vaguely remember, too. The incident itself is a complete blur, but the aftermath is clear in my memory.
As a grandfather, I usually get to interact with my grandchildren everyday, riding bikes to school, taking them to after school classes, doc visits, etc. I look at how much they are experiencing life and how little they remember long term. Brings me to thinking how much I have forgotten and how something comes to mind that I haven’t thought about for decades, often when an old friend dies and some snapshots are brought out of the archives.
I am trying to write some of these old memories down. My brain may well be the only place they currently reside, and who knows how long they'll stay in there, you know?
I had a completely false memory inserted by my much older brother. Who, as part of his "get out of trouble" plan, convinced me was the correct order of events. I was around 6 but the false memory persisted until he corrected it when I was 19!
That's a psy-op!
The one thing I want to be able to remember is my dreams. They're ephemeral shreds that dissolve like fog in the morning sun the moment you wake up... and it seems there's a specific reason for that. It's the way our brains work, and it's also why children remember many more details from their dreams than adults.
Same. I seldom remember any dreams these days.
lol I just woke up and remember my dream in vivid detail. I guess my subconscious wanted to prove there’s still a phone line open to my conscious mind 😅 I was on vacation in some tiny treehouse-like loft house with the fresh air blowing in through the windows. I could actually feel the wind. Separate lightbulbs illuminated the different parts of the studio. Outside, it was morning and a heavy fog was hanging over the trees and houses but people were already up and about
That place sounds fantastic if it has wifi.
Ok this is giving me chills. Looked outside and fog everywhere, just like in my dream... we don’t get fog here very often...
Let me know if someone built a treehouse near your house last night.
My first memory also involves a wound, my sister and I playing chase around our rectangular wooden coffee table and me falling on a corner. That got me one stitch to the forehead. It must be true-I still have the scar 🤣.
Also, thank you so much for sharing the details of my first workshop. Much appreciated, my friend!
Ouch! Stitches are certainly a valid form of evidence.
And, happy to help!! I hope it went great.
Well, as a historian, I know that the interpretation of it always changes because of the discovery of new ideas and the actions of new people. A book on the Roman Empire published in 1923 will not be exactly the same as one published in 2023, but they are both useful snapshots of how that time period was viewed in different contexts.
I have some tangentially related thoughts regarding films and shows about historical events and time periods. I've often assumed that the further in the future from the time being depicted, the more the film becomes a product of its current time and less like the period it is depicting. Try as it may.
I've come to mistrust modern movies about past eras or events because they seem to bring in too many modern sensibilities.
Now you'd assume the opposite to be true: the closer to the time period, the more likely it is to depict the period accurately because it is more based on living memory. For example if you watch a movie about the 1960s made in the 1970s, things were still pretty fresh.
But filmmaking has improved tremendously in some ways such as realism. And nowadays, the acting from decades past, seems stilted and contrived by today's standards. Or was it a reasonable portrayal of the way we were? Because as time passes and we get older, we forget how much we've changed in the way we behave, think and interact, of how life was before, and how much society has changed. And our memories get clouded in the process.
I will end this meandering thought stream by simply observing that while memory can both help and hinder the process, it remains a tricky business to "get the past right."
I like what you said here. To throw in my 2 cents: people are absolutely much, much better at acting normal today - speaking the way actual humans speak- than they were during the 70s, 80s, or 90s. There was a bit of a revolution in the 2000s and on into the early 2010s with TV. People are just much, much better at acting today than 50 years ago.
That is true. But the art of acting has changed though too. Possibly because it evolved fron the stage - without getting into all that implies. Even if you listen to old media interviews, even common people were generally more formal and polite and dare I say humble.
Yes, I agree. Language and behavior has changed, but acting is a lot more candid, especially given the rise of "reality TV" of late. People see hours and hours of footage of folks just having conversations, and they also have conversations themselves, so they see what they should sound like.
Acting is a more refined science now, too, just like any field.
Dude, that's uncanny.
My very first memory is also of a bee and adults trying to fix things with dubious treatments. I was at my grandma's summerhouse near Kiev (was probably around 4), eating a strawberry or some other stuff from her garden. I took it out of my mouth and the bee flew in. I even have a cartoonish memory of the bee with cartoonishly exaggerated giant eyes.
My mom and grandma freaked out because they thought I got stung on my tongue, which could've been pretty crappy (in medical terminology). So they started making me eat sugar cubes (which apparently is a thing if Fast Company is to be trusted: https://www.fastcompany.com/3040668/take-the-sting-out-of-bee-stings-with-the-magic-of-sugar).
Luckily, the bee flew in and out without actually stinging me at all.
But now I'm no longer sure of my memory either. Two people having similar bee-related "first memories"? Very sus!
My new working theory is that you and I had the same randomly assigned memory story implanted by our Matrix overlords. They really should try harder to diversify the pool of available memories. Maybe get ChatGPT to write some of them.
I appreciate that you caveated that with "if Fast Company is to be trusted." That is my assessment of them as well.
Clearly, Substack has a secret AI that is rewriting our past so that we continue to post every day. That's really the only answer that makes any sense.
That theory sounds so crazy, it just might be true!
Something really interesting often discussed in memory research is that every time you remember something, you remember it slightly differently.
Harkens back to the "neurons that fire together, wire together" and that defines our memory BUT sometimes a couple extra ones join in, creating slight modifications to memory. It's pretty cool stuff.
(Disclaimer: it's a lot more complicated than this, but unless you're planning on researching the topic, I don't think it's important to get that deep into the weeds)
Super super neat stuff. I'm not sure how much of a deep dive into memory I want to do, but probably a little deeper than today. This stuff is fun to think about!
Thinking about.... thinking?
I believe the word you're looking for is metacognition, The process of thinking about how we think!
They brain is an amazing playground both to experience and to learn about!
Yes!