The False Memory Effect - How Fake Memories Change Us

a man named Charlie stands on a stage in front of a crowd of a few thousand people he is receiving an Oscar for best film director filled with nerves pride in a mix of other unfamiliar emotions he looks out at the crowd as they cheer for him the cheer fades as he begins to say thank you well first of all I want to thank my mother and father for their support through everything I want to thank my wife Cara and my daughter Olivia for the light and inspiration you guys bring to my life Charlie pauses for a second and looks down flustered by the pressure to remember everything that he wants to say he quickly recovers and picks back up I want to thank the entire cast and crew you guys truly brought this film to life and made it special and I couldn't have done it without each and every one of you lastly I want to thank my longtime collaborator and best friend Nick I believe we were just eight or nine when we made our first film together and if I remember correctly all things considered he was pretty good Nick's sitting in the front section of the crowd smiles and laughs as he lightly points his finger at Charlie and a gesture of camaraderie I'll never forget that experience Charlie goes on with it changed my life forever and now here I am living out the childhood dream that formed that day and I couldn't be more grateful Charlie nods his head says thank you one last time and holds up his award giving it a little forward shake as if he is cheering the crowd with it the crowd applauds without knowing it Charlie had just deceived every person in the audience and the millions of people watching on TV and anywhere else the ceremony was being shown not because he intentionally wanted to enhance his speech or hide something in his story or anything of the sort but because when he said if I remember correctly he in fact didn't rewind to the day that Charlie referred to in his speech the day that he credited his introduction to filmmaking and his childhood dream with the day he was thinking of was Saturday March 26th 1988 Charlie and Nick were 10 years old they were working on their first short film together using Nick's father's VHS camcorder Charlie filmed and directed while Nick acted out an adventure through the neighborhood pretending they were racing against time trying to rescue a girl who was captured by some indiscriminate villains they casted Nick's younger sister as the girl and Nick's parents as the villains improvising lines and scenes with them then Nick and Charlie edited it all together on the VHS player adding in little glitch effects cuts music and so on they premiered it to Nick's family when they were done Nick's parents as well as Nick's older brother told Nick and Charlie how impressive it was not just the obligatory compliment that friends and family so often give each other but they were actually impressed at just 10 years old Nick seemed rather comfortable on camera and Charlie showed an impressive natural understanding of cinematic timing angles emotion scene blocking and so on the only problem is it wasn't Charlie Charlie was home with his parents that Saturday when the film was made it was Nick's other friend Steven who made the film with Nick Charlie had nothing to do with it four years later however when Nick and Charlie were hanging out at Charlie's house the night before starting high school as friends sometimes do especially before after major chapters in life they were reminiscing about memories together throughout elementary and middle school Charlie and Nick were best friends and hung out with each other the most out of everyone they knew this cause Nick to simply mix up Charlie with Steven when recalling his memory of making the film when this mixed-up memory floated to the surface of Nick's consciousness he blurted it out hey you remember when we made that short film together Nick asked Charlie Charlie didn't remember at first but considered that he had likely just forgotten about it it sounded possible enough he paused for a moment and then said I think so I'm not sure if I remember when was it seriously Nick exclaimed surprised that Charlie forgot it was like four or five years ago I think 6th grade maybe was with my sister and we had a whole plot to it it was stupid but kind of sick Nick said he reminded Charlie how good he was at filming and directing it and how impressed his parents and siblings were with it he told Charlie how he remembered Charlie being a natural at the whole thing this made Charlie want the memory to be real and he began to convince himself that it likely was and he had in fact just forgotten about it nick seemed so sure about it and Charlie trusted Nick oh yeah I remember now Charlie exclaimed back to Nick Charlie was still a little unsure when he said this but was starting to find a clear memory forming in his head which was enough for him to believe that it was real in this moment an entirely false memory was planted in Charlie's brain Charlie was experiencing something fairly common this occurrence happens every day to any number of people a memory is formed fabricated or edited in addition to or in place of what really happened in psychology it is known as a confabulation or false memory understood to be caused by psychological occurrence is known as memory conformity suggestibility source misattribution or the misinformation effect as well as other things generally in all cases some cause like a social influence individual desire misjudgment emotional circumstance etc creates an error in the memory retrieval process and as a result a memory can end up becoming modified or a false memory can be planted in the brains memory Center in 1995 a study found that when a research conductor instructed a group of individuals to recall and describe specific childhood memories that were given to the conductor by the participants parents if three out of the four memories were real but one was fake and intentionally suggested to the participant as real about 25% of the participants believed that it was a real memory and went on to describe it vividly and emotionally in the first study the suggested memory was that the participant had gotten lost in a shopping mall as a child and was rescued by an elderly lady the study was then followed by many other similar studies which suggested more unusual memories like almost drowning being attacked by vicious animals witnessing satanic possessions and so on in all cases a statistically significant number between 33 and 50% of all participants agreed that they had experienced the suggested memory and recalled it as real even though it wasn't furthermore the false memory implantation is found to occur most easily when participants are given information from trustworthy individuals Nick being charlie's best friend made charlie naturally susceptible generally a situation like this is benign and doesn't change much if anything at all most memories in general don't somehow ever change everything as Charlie and Nick began high school the seed of Charlie's false memory started to sprout causing Charlie to become increasingly interested in film production Charlie created film projects with Nick participated in the school's TV station film Club in the town's local TV network because of Charlie's false memory he believed he was already naturally good at filming and directing and editing which gave him the confidence to take on lead roles and projects faced tough challenges and take interesting creative risks right off the bat Charlie was comfortable in high-pressure roles never doubting his intuition he soon began working as a freelance filmmaker with local companies and clients who were looking for video advertising video tutorials event coverage in whatever else Charlie was really good he was the most talented member in the school's film club his short films were impressive all things considered and his clients were more than satisfied with his work the false memory seemed to be lining up with Charlie's actual abilities in college Charlie and Nick studied film at the same school collaborating on several film projects of which Charlie would write and direct while Nick would help write and act in two of which won multiple awards at various film festivals as a means of living Charlie also began to shoot and direct music videos for friends and friends moving with confidence to reach project never doubting his abilities one music video Charlie made was with an artist who was becoming successful and popular in the mainstream simultaneous to working with Charlie because of this timing and Charlie's unique bold approach with the video the video took off in the music world and Charlie began working with other major music artists soon after facilitating the start of his professional career as he grew through the music video world Charlie wrote screenplays and pitches for feature films determined to accomplish his childhood dream of being a feature film director several years later in 2004 Charlie's feature film directorial debut was released as an independent film entitled delusions of grandeur starring Nick as the lead that year it won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Original Screenplay and with this Charlie put a stake in Hollywood now 15 years later present-day here Charlie is coming back down from the Dolby theater stage holding an Oscar for Best Director one of the highest public achievements in all of film on the drive home after the awards ceremony Charlie his wife his parents Nick and a few other friends talk about the surreal nough sup the night Charlie's wife looks at him and Nick and says this is unbelievable did you guys ever think you would be leaving the Dolby Theatre in a limo with an Oscar Charlie smiles at her and then looks at Nick for a brief moment before answering then he says well I can't say I ever knew for sure but I think you're only as capable as you believe you are some people aren't nearly as capable as they believe they are some people are far more and some people are exactly right and you can only find out which one you are by following it to the end I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who was right the small group in the limo marvels at the profound sounding answer unaware of the incredible and beauty irony the entire basis of Charlie success was founded on a false memory something that he was wrong about fortunately for Charlie he was right about the fact that you are often only as capable as you believe you are and better yet perhaps sometimes you only become capable because you believe you are [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Pursuit of Wonder

Views: 700,731

Rating: 4.9604082 out of 5

Keywords: pursuit of wonder, exurb1a, school of life, ted, ted ed, memory, what if, memories, what are memories, false memories, fake memories, how memory works, the science of memories, psychology, lost in the mall, crash course, how we make memories, brain, consciousness, remembering, why we forget, how reliable is your memory, trick, tricked, story, short film, animation, philosophy

Id: mOpMhYGPajU

Length: 9min 10sec (550 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 20 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/snakeP007]

Interesting thanks for sharing!

[u/relaliti94]

So you can trick your brain into becoming good at anything with a single memory. Can I create a false memory about being good at guitar? I used to play, but with a lack of practice I cannot remember much apart from simple chords

[u/AndroManifests]

My man! Nice post brother!

[u/Nina_Nayna]

Ya..

[u/relaliti94]

So can I create a false memory of something that never happened. Can you do this for an instrument or a language ?