Siri Venkatagiri, Week 16: Selective Memory
Selective memory, or selective amnesia, refers to an individual's tendency to remember only certain pieces of information. Some say there is an aspect of intentionality when it comes to selective memory, classifying it a more conscious decision rather than a disability. Others say that it is the subconscious filtering of certain memories after a traumatic event, serving as more of a defense mechanism than a conscious decision. I prefer to believe that it is an unconscious process that the mind uses to shield ourselves from regretful memories made in the past, in order to focus on healing in the future.
I often recall an incident from childhood that showcases this phenomenon well. I never learned how to swim as a child, and I once happened to find myself flailing on the coast of a beach on the Pacific Ocean at a barbeque gathering with my family. By the grace of my grandfather and God Himself, I was saved from the steady strength of the current of the waves. For years, however, my mind blocked out the fear and panic I felt in those minutes of being pushed underwater. What I do remember, is the joy of being found, the relief on my family members’ faces, and the warm shower and flavorful smash-burger I was treated to after. My selective memory shielded me from the worst of the experience, while allowing me to cherish the happier moments of that trip.
Understanding the way my own memory selectively chooses what experiences to keep at the surface of my brain has given me a deeper appreciation for the complexity of my own memory. It has also reminded me time and time again that our memories are too vast and jumbled to remember it all, so it’s better to just remember the good. Our selective memory is a tool our minds use to protect and heal us, and recognizing this has allowed me to be more forgiving of my past and more careful and appreciative of my present. If our minds can choose to highlight the good, we can learn to do the same in our daily lives, and choose to focus on the growth and positivity that we come across.
Hi Siri,
ReplyDeleteI like how you started your blog with some background information as to what selective memory is and added some personal commentary to later connect it to your own experiences. I think this topic is very interesting because it helps us understand how we can alter our own memories and why our memories might not always be the most accurate representation of what really happened. This connects to how in novels there is often an unreliable narrator because their views of the events are often skewed by their personal biases or lack of the whole picture. As for your example about being pushed under the water at the beach, I found it really funny that you had that experience as well. I love the beach and especially the ocean and I remember this happening to me a few times as well. I remember it being scary but also very fun. It was very interesting to see how we both captured some similar feelings from that experience in our memories but also that because we are different individuals, we also remembered that experience slightly differently. The science behind how our brains store memories and how it can be to, as you said, protect and heal us, is fascinating and I love how you covered this intriguing topic.
Hi Siri, I was drawn into this blog post as I was viewing the blog posts on the mobile version of Blogger. This detail is important because the first piece of text that I saw was “Photo Credit: Drowning Underwater.” This quickly introduces your blog post with a serious tone. This information is also visible on the usual version of the website, but I found it interesting how I reacted to the words differently than I believe I would have reacted to the picture. I appreciate how you choose a positive angle when assessing the topic of selective memory. Even leading with the term “selective memory” instead of “selective amnesia” creates a more positive tone to your blog post. Amnesia has a negative connotation that now does not heavily affect the tone of your post, something that might have been intentional as like I said, the argument is one that seems to take a positive angle. This is important because the tone of the post lies in juxtaposition with the blog’s image. This worked to draw my interest and seemed, to me, like a message, a denial, of a negative situation and finding a positive from it—not unlike what is done in the process of selective memory.
ReplyDeleteYou start by introducing a definition, concrete evidence, then you transition into a personal anecdote. This is a scientific way of formatting a blog post and therefore a successful appeal to logic. As a member of the audience I can clearly see that you identified a scientific phenomenon, connected it to a personal experience, then stated the conclusion that you came to through this investigation. This conclusion is also where you solidify your position on the topic. Reading your conclusion also gives me a better sense of why I was feeling an experimental, or scientific tone when examining the construction of your blog post. With words like “understanding” following words like “appreciation” and “reminded,” an image is presented that you have researched the phenomena then after researching, like a scientist, you have a renewed appreciation for nature, in this case, your brain representing nature.
I did a read-through of the article you linked on “selective memory.” This further demonstrated to me that you chose a positive angle when you wrote this blog post. While “imbalanced emotions” and “PTSD” can be causes of selective memory, nutritions can also be a factor. Here, memories that a person might be more likely to want to keep may be in jeopardy. This makes me wonder if you made a conscientious decision in choosing to focus on the mental health associated part of selective memory? One shocking piece of information I saw in the shared article is that people can lose “virtually all their memories.” Thank you for including this link because we are limited in terms of the information we can include in our blog posts, but are far less limited in terms of the information we can share through links so I always appreciate when an interesting source is included in a blog post.
Hi Siri! I really enjoyed reading your blog on selective memory this week. Your insights about how our memory works and its versatility were very interesting. It truly is amazing how our brains shield us from pain much of the time unconsciously censoring terrifying incidents while letting us keep the joyful ones. Your childhood memory of a scene when you barely managed to avoid drowning gives a vivid representation of this phenomenon. The fact in which your mind decided to focus on the moment of relief from being saved and happiness as opposed to the event in question is a good example of how selective memory works. This is probably one of the best parts of being human; you can always look at the bright side of things even with a terrible circumstance. Your reflections have prompted me to reconsider how I portray my memories. There have been instances in my life where later on I seemed to recall the good moments and completely forgot the bad. For instance, if I have to remember a period of my life that was tough, I remember people being there for me, family and friends there for me rather than the problems that I faced. Your blog is a beautiful reminder of the power of our memories and the importance of focusing on the positives. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your blog this week, good job!
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