Remember That One Time....?

Memory is a fascinating thing.  It’s certainly something we rely on in a huge way. If we didn’t have it we wouldn’t remember to get dressed in the morning, or know how to drive our cars, or who the people around us are.  It’s interesting how some of us are good at recalling names or numbers or lists. Some remember more visual aspects of life like faces and places. I just recently heard from someone who had multiple concussions as a youth and now has long-term memory issues. Memory stops working as efficiently as we get older. People who get dementia or Alzheimer’s tend to be able to remember the past much better than the present.  It’s also been proven that our memory functions can fail us or make us remember things that didn’t actually happen that way.

An article from Harvard University, which has done extensive studies regarding memory function says this: “In its simplest form, memory refers to the continued process of information retention over time. It is an integral part of human cognition, since it allows individuals to recall and draw upon past events to frame their understanding of and behavior within the present and makes sense of the future. Memory operates according to a "dual-process," where more unconscious, more routine thought processes (known as "System 1") interact with more conscious, more problem-based thought processes (known as "System 2"). At each of these two levels, in turn, there are the processes through which we "get information in" (encoding), how we hold on to it (storage), and how we "get it back out" (retrieval or recall).”  In other words, it’s a very complicated function of our brain.  As we age, the intricate process begins to have gaps in functionality. Trust me, if you’re not there yet, you will be. 

Some of you may remember (if your memory allows) NBC news anchor Brian Williams. In an evening newscast, he purported to being in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq when he was covering a story there. One of the crew members of that helicopter outed him saying that Brian was not on that chopper when it went down. Williams was immediately fired from NBC and publicly humiliated for embellishing the story. He accepted his fate quietly, but the podcast “Revisionist History” (link in notes at the end of this post) interviewed Williams who said that his memory of the incident was true to the story he told. It’s a fascinating podcast that discusses the accuracy of memory and how our minds may trick us into believing things happened in a way they didn’t. 

There was an incident in my childhood that I remember as clear as day. I was about four years old and early one morning I followed my dad to the barn while he milked our dairy cow.  When we came back into our house, my nine-year-old sister had attempted to make breakfast and her pajamas had caught fire. My dad immediately smothered her and put the fire out, but that sort of traumatic incident sticks in your memory. A number of years later, I related that story to my dad. He informed me that I was not in the room when it happened. The question remains: did he not remember I was in the room or had I heard the retelling of the story and made it my own memory?   

Most of my life I’ve had what they call a “photographic memory”. I have the rare ability to be able to picture something and remember all the details of it by “reseeing” that information. It was great for school when I could read a page and take a mental picture of the text and recall it for exams. I can still take a mental photo of places we have been which helps me recall the name and details of that particular location, what we did there and who we were with. It’s not perfect always, but surprisingly accurate most of the time.  

Harvard gives us some helpful hints for hanging onto our memory function. They suggest eating right, exercising and getting adequate sleep (no surprises there). They also recommend brain games, using all your senses to help with memory retention (like taking notes), repeating things you want to remember (like putting your keys and wallet and phone in the same place every day), and continuing to learn new things to make your brain work harder. We should all put these practices to work. As long as we can remember to do them. 

Revisionist History “Free Brian Williams” 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5A6zjgEACEukyNOo0KmSBU

Also available on Apple Podcasts if you have a subscription.