nameta9 Posted October 12, 2004 Posted October 12, 2004 Is any memory real ? After experiencing something it becomes the past, afterwards the reality of that something that "happened" only remains in our memory of the "event" and some of the consequences. But could we invent fake memories and would they be just as real as real memories ? After all, they are non-tangible, only an image (sometimes dreamy) and only with some logical consequences which could be even due to other causes and not the events we "remember" and think have had consequences. If so, than we can "invent" any memory and assign it as "real" and it would be just as "real" as real memories.
Glider Posted October 13, 2004 Posted October 13, 2004 True, but you would have to be able to utterly erase the knowledge that the memory was an invention. If you could do that, then the invented memory would be just another memory, and as real as any other.
nameta9 Posted October 13, 2004 Author Posted October 13, 2004 Or you could "convince" yourself that the fake memory is "true" if you could believe yourself enough. A corollary is that by erasing some knowledge you could literally create not only any "fake" memories but even any "fake" world view or fake science or fake reality. I could convince myself (or directly erase all the information that contradicts the regarding subject in my mind) that there are no atoms, only macroscopic objects and microscopes give "fake" information. One way to "erase" all the information in the mind would be by directly manipulating the neural circuitry (that is physically moving the neurons or cutting and adding connections) if we knew enough how to do it.
Ophiolite Posted October 30, 2004 Posted October 30, 2004 We all generate false memories of varying degrees of complexity all the time. Our brains are constructed in such a way that they seek out patterns in what we sense and experience. If there are no patterns there the brain will invent some. (Schiraperelli's canals would be a simple, but classic example.) I suspect this plays a role in generating at least some false memories. For a more studious consideration look here at the False Memory Syndrome web site:http://www.fmsfonline.org/t
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