Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   Ricki Gray Area Witch Tarr (rickitarr@beige.party)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:18:06 JST Ricki Gray Area Witch Tarr

   Our memories are an act of storytelling. Memories aren't an exact reproduction. Two people who experienced the same event will remember it differently. Why do our brains work like this?

   • ΤΕΤΡΑPERATOS repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Brian Hawthorne (bhawthorne@infosec.exchange)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:18:01 JST Brian Hawthorne

     in reply to

     • Velocirooster adminensis :bc:

     @RickiTarr @theropologist Evolution is not purposeful. It does not progress. It is just an ongoing process that sometimes produces species and individuals more fit than others.

     Humans who are able to remember things are better able to survive than humans who cannot. So, there is clear selection pressure for memory. Similarly, the genes of humans who can share their memories with other humans in their community who share many of their genes or who will cooperate to protect them are also more likely to survive, so there is clear selection pressure for what we might call story telling.

     Is there selection pressure for remembering accurately vs remembering approximately? Maybe. Probably. Is there selection pressure for perfect recollection vs. pretty good recollection? I’m not sure. We do have individuals with eidetic or highly superior autobiographical memories. And they are not necessarily the happiest or fittest individuals from the point of view of survival. See for example: https://time.com/5045521/highly-superior-autobiographical-memory-hsam/

   • Embed this notice
     Ricki Gray Area Witch Tarr (rickitarr@beige.party)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:18:02 JST Ricki Gray Area Witch Tarr

     in reply to

     • Velocirooster adminensis :bc:

     @theropologist But for what purpose, what is the Evolutionary advantage of this?

     ΤΕΤΡΑPERATOS repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Velocirooster adminensis :bc: (theropologist@beige.party)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:18:05 JST Velocirooster adminensis :bc:

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr Memory is oral history. The act of remembering is a process of telling the story of the memory to ourselves. Just like any story told again and again, it changes and evolves with each retelling.

   • Embed this notice
     Steve Buzzard (sbuzzard@hachyderm.io)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:34:06 JST Steve Buzzard

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr In my mind there's certainly a weight to different kinds of memories, as I imagine there is for most. But personal ones for whatever reason usually don't rate much weight. I remember *very* little of my childhood/early adulthood but can still recite the vast majority of the 90s Simpsons episodes like I grew up in Springfield (though an adult when the show started). I'd be fascinated to learn more of my memory ranking system (I've been in therapy for 16 years; need a new therapist).

   • Embed this notice
     WagesOf (wagesof@gamepad.club)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:34:14 JST WagesOf

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr I think it's because our internal narrative back fills our own motivations and goals faster than we can admit that we have no idea why we do the majority of what we do.

     Our memories are of an ongoing pseudo rationalization of chaos that we never really understood.

   • Embed this notice
     RockMaster Mike (rockmastermike@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:34:27 JST RockMaster Mike

     in reply to

     @RickiTarr worse, I've been told by neuroscience folks that the act of remembering re-writes the original memory including extra context and sometimes does a rather poor job of it.

     ΤΕΤΡΑPERATOS repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Aaron (hosford42@techhub.social)'s status on Thursday, 28-Sep-2023 01:34:27 JST Aaron

     in reply to

     • RockMaster Mike

     @rockmastermike @RickiTarr If we didn't do this, we couldn't incorporate new information or frames of understanding. We would remember in perpetuity that time we were scolded when we were 5, and how mean and unfair mommy was being, without being able to revise it with the understanding that she was just concerned about our safety