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Sorry to go all cognitive neuro-nazi on the thread. Clearly I miss being in my actual discipline.
Cognition, perception and memory are insanely fascinating academic and medical specializations, but they are also infuriating to those who aren't into neuroscience.
I have real trouble interacting with people on the subject of memory. When people tell me heavily detailed stories from their distant past, it takes a Herculean exertion of willpower to refrain from saying, "You know, unless you're Kim fuckin' Peak, what you're telling me is a work of fiction... like, I know you love telling this story about his thing that happened when you were five, and I know you've made it part of your self concept, part of your very identity... But you should know that you probably only have about 12% of the facts straight. The rest is filler... not flashbulb memories but little movies your consciousness has adapted from stories other people have told you, which were themselves full of holes and manufactured content. So .... You know... Nice story and stuff, but.... it didn't happen like that."
... Sometimes resistance is futile and I say something despite myself, and I see the familiar look of searing hatred in the eyes of the person I'm speaking to. But fuck, man... I didn't design the human brain. I'm just aware of the fact that I'm not a goddamn robot, and I think it's utterly fascinating that human attention and memory are so flawed and prone to distortion. It's such a cool neurobiological and neurophilosophical mystery. I am always surprised to see that others don't find it as entertaining as I do.
...
Man I'm a fuckin freak.
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