Memory
Paloma Boccasam
Memory is defined in the dictionary as “the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information”. With this simplistic definition, many people have compared memory to a hard drive on a laptop as an analogy to make this complex concept easy for our brains to wrap around; but in reality this analogy is a common misconception because the mechanism in which our brains process memories cannot be compared to something that the human brain can ever fully comprehend. In attempt to dissect why our memories are shaped the way they are, we have to understand as stated in “In our time: Memory” that we have no conscious control over what memories we retain, and that there are multiple factors such as experiences, goals, emotions, and relevance that influence what memories we are most cognizant of, and what memories we eventually store long-term. Psychologist Melvyn Bragg then elaborates further and divides memory into two factions: Semantic memory, which is memory based on facts learned in school that are free from the context they were acquired in, for example, you know the fact that the capital of the United States is Washington DC, but you cannot recall where it was that you learned this information. The next type is Episodic or autobiographical memory, which is based on experiences and feelings and is maintained in the context it was acquired in. Now although these components seem opposite, where they coincide not only helps us in recalling the past but in generating knowledge as well. Another essential aspect of memory is that it facilitates in creating our sense of identity and our place within the shared knowledge of our community (Dombrowski). Our memories are so intertwined with our identities that “denial of the accuracy of our memories can feel like an assault” (Dombrowski). Although the aforementioned components of memory are essential to our place in society, the reliability of memory is challenged especially in areas of knowledge such as history and ethics. Our inability to recall memories after certain periods of time, or generalizations of content instead of memory of contextual detail can inhibit our ability to recall and generate valid knowledge. With these constituents in mind, to what extent does the reliability of your memory challenge the validity of your knowledge?
Memory is the starting point for all knowledge. Whether it be shared knowledge or personal knowledge, most of what you know has come from retained experiences and events from the past. Memory clearly plays a significant role in our lives and the strengths contribute to forming our identities and shaping our perspective on the world. Many of the conceived downsides have been proved to extend our knowledge and relinquish us from the past. For example, some psychologists argue that our inability to recall all of our memories makes it unreliable, but on the other hand psychologist Martin Conway argues that if we were to remember every detail from our lives, the mistakes, traumas and failures everyone has experienced would dictate our actions and inhibit our ability to progress. Our mind would become nonfunctional with all the information circulating in our heads. For example, if you have experienced a loss of a friend or family member, the emotional trauma you have endured is not easily erased, but as time passes and the memory begins to decay, although the vivid feelings of sorrow remain the memory itself is diluted and therefore allows to continue with our daily lives. As Dombrowski puts it, “We tidy up the past to create the narrative that leads to the present as we know it”. The fact that we can forget mistakes that aren’t relevant to our progress is significant to shaping our past knowledge, generating future knowledge and recognizing which experiences are valuable to us as learners. Memory also intertwines with emotion, sense perception and intuition which proves to be reliable because it gives us quick access to the past and a sense of immediacy (Dombrowski). The reliability of memory is essential to shaping our sense of personal identity and helps develop our sense of empathy, emotional response and a greater understanding of the community we are in. Although we tend to forget many of our memories, new knowledge is almost always the product of personal and shared memories that are then contextualized.
Memory is seen as unreliable because of its malleability and susceptibility to being influenced by both internal and external forces. The reliability of memory for acquiring knowledge can depend on the area of knowledge one wishes to explore. For example, surrounding the AOK ethics, an eyewitness testimony cannot be substantial evidence solely based on memory because as a 2011 Supreme Court ruling (State Vs. Henderson) concluded: “memory is not a reliable record of the past – it does not work like video tapes of events stored in a vault” (Dombrowski). Therefore, regarding something that requires factual evidence should not exclusively be reliant on memory. In the BBC podcast “In Our Time: Memory” states that facts are different than experiences and we cannot force ourselves to remember or retain anything. This becomes significant when questioning the validity of your knowledge because your memory is so heavily based on experiences it is susceptible to error and can be created entirely by suggestion or imagination which is not beneficial when trying to decipher new knowledge (Dombrowski). The reliability of memory is also challenged when the idea of selective memory is introduced, humans tend to use multiple biases such as consistency bias, hindsight bias, availability heuristic etc, that all contribute to the selective characteristics of our memory. Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus discusses the impacts of strong emotions, trauma, memory decay and distortion on how we pick and choose which memories are most valuable to us, making what we know to be true and what we have perceived to be true not mutually exclusive.
Essentially, the reliability of memory is subjective depending on the area of knowledge you wish to explore. Regarding one's sense of identity and community, memory is reliable and helps us acquire the knowledge needed to mold our past, present, and future. Whereas, regarding specific areas of knowledge such as ethics and history, and natural sciences, either specific factual evidence of the past is required, or interpretations can be limiting to the knowledge you are trying to gain.