Why We Remember summary

The aroma of roasting chestnuts wafts up into your nostrils. Instantly, you feel yourself transported 20 years back to that magical trip to Paris, where the same smell had embraced you on your evening walks. 

Memories have an almost magical ability to transport us across years and vast distances. This incredible ability to mentally time travel is a core part of how human memory works. 

Imagine being able to memorize the order of a newly-shuffled deck of cards in just ten minutes. Sounds like a superhuman feat, right? Actually, no. Scott Hagwood, a four-time-winner of the USA Memory Championship, can do it –⁠ but he wasn’t born with any exceptional abilities. He began training his memory at 36 years old, after receiving a cancer diagnosis. A year later, he could memorize names, poetry, card sequences, and random word-and-number sequences in just five to 15 minutes. 

How is this possible? Well, having an exceptional memory isn’t about storing tons of raw data in our brains. Instead, it’s about how we structure and access that data. To that end, the memory champions’ secret is chunking. It's a strategy where large bits of information are broken down into smaller, more manageable chunks –⁠ just like we do when we memorize a phone number by breaking it down into groups of digits for area code, network provider, and so on. This technique enables us to compress data so our brains can handle more at any given time.

Imagine walking to the entrance of your home. On the sidewalk, you notice something lying on the ground –⁠ is that a jacket? When you step inside, your pulse quickens and your eyes dart around, noticing the furniture has been disturbed. A feeling of dread creeps in… you've been robbed! 

This unsettling scenario illustrates how our memories don’t just orient us to the past. They also attune us to anything irregular unfolding in the present moment. The eerie sense that alerted you to the break-in arises from what neuroscientists call the orienting response.

Imagine being able to dig deep into your mind, and tweak and reshape the memories of your past. This concept is a staple of science fiction –⁠ but it’s not so far-fetched from how human memory really operates. When recalling a memory, we actively edit it, blending past and present into something subtly, or even significantly, different from the original event. 

In fact, under the influence of external suggestion or pressure, memories can be fabricated out of thin air. Take the “lost in the mall” experiment conceived by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus. Participants were presented with fabricated stories about their childhood, including one where the participant had gotten lost in a shopping mall. Over time, with subtle suggestions, a significant number of participants began to “remember” this event, filling in the blanks with details that aligned with the false narrative. Loftus showed definitively that false memories could be implanted by suggesting events that never occurred. 

At work, in school, and life in general, we’re taught to avoid mistakes at all costs. This is a real shame, since making mistakes is crucial for learning.

This is illustrated by the story of a college professor who was dreading having to teach his class via a virtual setup during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watching his own daughter struggle to stay engaged in her online courses, he worried about how his students would respond to remote learning. But then his own research on memory provided him with a stroke of inspiration. He decided that when it came to measuring learning achievement, he would do away with tests. Instead, he switched to weekly open-book quizzes, whereby students could review their answers afterward. His method was a success; 85 percent of his students said the quizzes greatly helped them learn.

We often think of our memories as belonging solely to us. But the truth is that they’re profoundly shaped by our social world. Memory is inherently collective, tied to our relationships and interactions with others.

From an early age, the way our families discuss shared experiences molds the stories we tell about our own lives. For instance, studies show that teenagers from families who reminisce about shared experiences together are less likely to have mental health issues like depression and anxiety. This suggests that families have an influence on the way that children’s autobiographical memories develop.