As you remember it

You’ve probably said, “It was like that, I remember it perfectly.” And you hold onto that certainty as if it were a dogma. But no, it probably wasn’t like that. Our memory can deceive us.

How is that possible? Because our memory is not reconstructive, but constructive, and often, things ‘slip’ in.

Memories are never stored exactly as they are in memory.

When we think about memory, we often imagine it as if it were a video camera recording everything that happens, but that’s not the case. In reality, what we store are clues to reconstruct situations. So when we remember, we’re not extracting a video recorded in memory but constructing that memory in the moment based on how we felt or some images. That’s why we say that sometimes things ‘slip in.’

In other words, we insert things into that memory that weren’t there because we confuse some cues or because we’ve associated the same cue with multiple memories, causing them to mix.

Be cautious when you insist that things are as you remember them because it’s likely not the case.