Memory Isn't a Recording
Every recall is a reconstruction
Most people think of memory like a video recording: hit play, see what happened. That's not how it works. Every time you recall something, your brain actively reconstructs it from fragments scattered across different regions, filling in gaps with assumptions, expectations, and details from later events. Memory is creative, not photographic.
This is why eyewitness testimony is so often wrong, and why two people can remember the same event completely differently and both be sincere. Each retrieval slightly modifies the memory, so the more you recall something, the more it can drift from what actually happened. Memory isn't broken when this happens. It's working as designed: prioritizing meaning over precision, and helping you act on the gist of an experience rather than its exact details.
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Memory Is Like a Recording