© T.H. Warrior – Tender Hearted Warriors
– S.S.P. & E.L.C.
Memory Error-Cognitive biases:
Memory can be defined as the reconstruction of the past through mental „reliving.“ However, one must distinguish between memories that are recalled „consciously,“ i.e., with the help of the brain, and memories that are recalled „unconsciously,“ e.g., through association or affiliation with prior experiences.
A memory can be a number, a picture, a loud noise, a mother’s gentle voice, a soft touch, and even agonizing pain. Above all, a memory is a „feeling,“ which is compressed and stored into our „hard disk,“ i.e., into our long-term memories, waiting to be summoned.
A memory, depending on the type, can be very specific or very vague. Similar, frequent, and recurring events merge, over time, into a mental schema where single memories are irretrievable. Sometimes we mix up different unrelated memories, and occasionally real memories become tangled with dream-like fantasies.
Due to the variety of categories that memories can be classified as several memory errors can occur, thanks to which people may remember things very differently and far from the actual nature of what transpired. In other words, lost hope, imagination, or even denial can cause our brain to start filling the gaps itself. We often, entirely unconsciously, incorporate details into our memories, which we only learned of later. Sometimes this effect, however well-intentioned, takes on quite unimaginable features, for example, when we not only save and combine memories with a time delay, but often even tend to fill the non-existing parts of our consciousness with fantasies.
The roots of such memory errors go back to different types of concealed personality disorders such as dissociative identity disorder (DID), certain cognitive factors, or even physiological reasons, including brain damage. Also noteworthy is the fact that our upbringing could always cause non-resolvable impacts on the way our brain receives, processes, and saves information on different events throughout our lives.
In reality, not everything we remember has happened. Some information was only supplemented by our brain afterward – in a way that they are in harmony with our way of thinking. And as mentioned earlier, we train our brains to take in our surroundings in a certain way.
When we misconstrue our attitudes, expectations, needs, and wishes, we force our brain to transfer this data and save it in the wrong place of our hard disk. Depending on the individual thinking pattern, one can remember events and details that are not there at all.
This sort of memory malfunction happens especially when we are forced to recall something under pressure, or when our memory is questioned continuously. Lawyers and members of the police force have been caught on numerous occasions applying these „neurolinguistics programming techniques,“ i.e., questioning techniques and powerful techniques that even psychology students will come across in their studies. This questioning method will often trick our brain into making a false statement, of which we are convinced to be true.
Sometimes we know things, but we don’t know-how. We often do not know how we obtained specific memories or information. We even start questioning the factuality of our memories. This explains why we cannot always prove specific claims – things that we remember happening based on probabilities. We know, but we are not sure. What we remember is disposable – not convincing enough due to inconsistency and lack of evidence.
If psychology can trick our brain into recalling false memories, could we find a way to create a shield around our brain? What happens when a murderer passes a lie detector test? Yes, of course, he controls the muscle in question, i.e., the heart, but how? Does he send an order to his brain? Or does he overrule his mind? We know that the brain is an organ, and the heart is a muscle, but what exactly is the mind?
The brain is an organ – the visible, physical, and tangible leader of the body. On the other hand, our mind is the invisible part, the source of our feelings, thoughts, attitude, beliefs, expectations, imagination, also known as our cognitive bias. The brain abides by the mind, but the mind is not confined to the brain.
To be the master of our life, we must first recognize that we are the rightful master of our brain, its owner, and operator. We are our minds. Any man could, if he were so inclined, be the sculptor of his brain by taking over his mind.
“To be the master of our life, we must first recognize that we are the rightful master of our brain, its owner, and operator”
T.H. Warrior
If our attempt to erase or replace memories fails, we attack the credibility of our memories. We are the executive director of our false memories.
But why is it so dangerous to rely on these narratives?
The way we remember our past experiences does and will affect our future. If we judge our past or present based on a bias, it is only a matter of time before the same pattern of events hits us again. We humans tend to sanctify the past. Or the lost. As soon as someone passes away, they become this holy soul who always helped others, wore a permanent smile, and never hurt even an ant on this planet. Old lovers become our most holy, gone with the wind fairy-tails, and left behind homelands suddenly are remembered as the lands of milk and honey where people wave to unicorns on their way to work. Funny enough, the exact opposite biased way of remembering is also dangerous and happens quite often; people who hold deep-rooted grudges all their lives, without even wanting to revisit their brains for the truth.
“Be the master of your mind, or it shall rule you”
T.H. Warrior
Many different techniques can help us learn how to overcome a brain disorder or defeat a bad life-lasting childhood experience and start running the show ourselves. Still, for that, we need to identify the right emotion sitting behind the steering wheel fully. This will help us choose which techniques we need to use. At times it is necessary to either interrupt or replace our emotions. But sometimes, we need to eliminate them. Either way, we must be the thinker and the observer. And that’s when we can genuinely recall specific memories. We should align our thoughts, mind, and brain in accordance with the truth and nothing but the truth. Be the master of your mind, or it shall rule you. An attempt to alter the past by forcing the brain to remember things differently and less hurtful, doesn’t change the past. It does not change the reality. Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and conviction, will one day become a reality.