Pink icing

About this video

Zara and her brother Kian are looking at photos from Kian's eighth birthday. "That was the chocolate cake," says Zara. "No," says Kian, "it was strawberry. I remember the pink icing." Both were there, and both feel completely sure. How can two people remember the same day differently?

Memory keeps what your senses took in, so you can use it later. You know your way to school and your friend's face with your eyes closed because you saw them once. That makes memory a source of knowledge, and remembering something you saw is a good reason to believe it, most of the time.

But memory is not a video you can play back. Each time you remember, your mind builds the day again from pieces: some from the day itself, some from what you know about birthdays in general, some from later photos and stories. Sometimes a wrong piece fills a gap. The hardest part is that a wrong memory feels exactly like a right one, so how sure you feel says little about whether it is right. Memory is best when it is recent, when you paid attention, and when it fits with other things. For anything that matters, check a note or a photo made at the time. This video goes with the What You Remember lesson of Knowledge Level 1 on Knaph.

Transcript

1. 0:00Zara remembers chocolate. Kian remembers pink icing. Both were there, both sure.
2. 0:05Memory keeps what your senses took in, so you can use it later.
3. 0:11Memory isn't a video. Your mind rebuilds the day from pieces - sometimes a wrong one.
4. 0:17And a wrong memory feels exactly as sure as a right one.
5. 0:23For things that matter, check a note or a photo made at the time.
6. 0:29A note made at the time doesn't rebuild itself.