Decisions based on fake memories
Offline Hello,
I searched for a topic like this, but I couldn't find it, so I'll post it anyway.
Just a moment ago I read a note concerning fake memories in a Dutch magazine called 'Wetenschap in Beeld' (Science in sight). It states that Helen Paterson of the University of Sydney discovered that people can make decisions based on fake memories, even when they know those memories are fake.
Could it be that, although some people know that what they base their beliefs on is fake, they still believe it anyway?
To be honest, I think that my parents are guilty of doing this, because in a lot of arguments I have had with them, they admit they are wrong about the validity of most of the historical events in the Bible, but still say that the unprovable parts of the Bible are true.
I also searched the internet for this, and all I could find was her research on how people influence one another during witness interviews. So maybe I just got a little excited and it's all wrong 
Here's a link to an English article on it: http://www.myscience.cc/wire/sydney_study_finds_false_memories_are_common-2010-Sydney
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I would think it would be difficult for most of us to tell true from false memories. If you have a recording of the event, then everyone would be able to check their memories against the recording. But for most of our memories, there is no recording.
Our memories are colored by our desires and emotions around the remembered event. So if you talk with your parents or sister about an incident from years ago, everyone may have a different memory. When I was in high school, my parents divorced. It was not a calm, reasonable divorce. It was loud, with lots of fighting and police coming to our house. One time, I was not at home when the fight happened. My sister and mother told me what happened after I came home. Years later, I realized my memory of that night was not correct. I was remembering as if I had been at home. Even now, when I think of that time, I remember as if I were at home even knowing I wasn't home.
And people self justify a lot. There is a very interesting book, Mistakes were made (but not by me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson who are both psychologists. Everyone self justifies - you, me, everyone here on this forum, everyone at your church. It is normal but not always a good thing. The authors of the book have an interesting concept. Imagine a pyramid and you are at the very top. You can start down any side by taking one step. If you decide to go down a different side, it is only one step to go to another side. By the time you reach the bottom of the pyramid, it is a very long journey to get to another side.
Your parents are on one side of a pyramid called "religion" or "belief in god/s/dess" and you are on the other side. It would be a very long journey for them to join you on your side. It is not impossible for them to join you, it just won't be easy or quick.
The book is also available on Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Mistakes-Were-Made-But-Not/dp/0156033909/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293550237&sr=1-1
-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.
"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken
"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.
Thanks for the response.
That's a weird memory you are having, but also a very good example of how little adjusted our brain is to philosophy and the likes.
Yeah, self justification is also a rather important factor. I read that there's this thing called meta cognition. The smarter you are the better you are in imagining as if you are someone else, and estimating how good you actually are at something. That's why less intelligent people often thing they are better than they are.
Yeah, my mother said she was already quite old, and so it would be hard for her to change her mind, no matter how hard I would try.
Thanks for the useful information, and I'll see you around!