Ayush Bansal

Friday, September 25, 2015

To what extent are memory and Truth related
Truth can be perceived as a derivative of memory, as memory can be perceived as a derivative of
truth, catered to the situation. Memory and truth are very interwoven concepts. They are closely
related. Other than in the case of math and in some documentation of science, though science is
constantly changing, all truths that we know of are somewhat influenced by memory. Likewise,
all recollection of memory that we have is influenced by what we choose to believe as truth.
We see that in the first case, truth coming from memory is acknowledged when no other accounts
of an incident are present and/or important. In the past I have touched a hot pan. By using my
sense of touch, I have experienced a truth. This personal knowledge reminds me that the surface
is harmful to bare hand, there is few knowledge that may disprove this. One of the exception
however is religious knowledge, which is based on belief. In Greek Mythology, a tale explains
the creation of black crows from white birds. This tale of shared knowledge, disregards our
memory of crows. According to my personal observations, the crow has always been black. But
believers of this tale, need not to observe this for their belief proves to them that the crow has
been white.
Elizabeth Loftus, a Ted Talk speaker describes how often eyewitness accounts, lead to false
convictions by juries. She describes a young man, under her study, who had lost his job, love,
and other enjoyment because a rape victim had falsely accused him based on her horrific,
experiential memory. This shared knowledge, was widely regarded as accepted truth. This
example and the next displays the interconnectivity between truth and memory.
Memory is greatly influenced by what truth we see in the surroundings around us. For example,
an experiment conducted to train US troops included simulated torture and interrogation by a
hostile body. Upon requesting the trainees to identify their interrogator, they were influenced by
questions and misleading descriptors which altered their memory of the situation significantly.
This influence had been so significant that the trainees confused their thicker faced, fully haired
interrogator with a gaunt, bald man.
1

Memory and truth are related in all our real life decisions. They are not the same however,
though our reluctance often strays us to believe so. One does not exist without the other, except
perhaps in math.
Word Count : 416

1 "Elizabeth Loftus: How reliable is your memory ... - TED.com." 2014. 25 Sep. 2015
<http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_loftus_the_fiction_of_memory/transcript?language=en>