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10 - A Relative to Truth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2022

Anne McLaughlin
Affiliation:
North Carolina State University
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Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the various kinds of memories we can have, when and why we forget, and how good systems and technology can help us. The chapter starts with the story of Lenny LeClair, a man permanently disabled after surgeons forgot multiple sponges in his abdomen. The story ends with a question: How could doctors forget something with such high consequences? And how could they forget so frequently? The examples move to even more dire consequences: people who were forgotten by dive boats while out scuba diving. Some lived, many died. I end with an example from my own life: forgetting to go for a run after a successful 1,580 days of a running streak. Again, the question is how we can forget such important information. I talk about how to avoid memory errors and failures. Tactics include memory training, such as using the method of loci to remember information. Lastly, I cover false memories and how they are created with application areas in police questioning of witnesses, especially children, and the horrors of the "recovered memory movement" thirty years ago.

Type
Chapter
Information
All Too Human
Understanding and Improving our Relationships with Technology
, pp. 130 - 146
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • A Relative to Truth
  • Anne McLaughlin, North Carolina State University
  • Book: All Too Human
  • Online publication: 27 January 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026093.012
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  • A Relative to Truth
  • Anne McLaughlin, North Carolina State University
  • Book: All Too Human
  • Online publication: 27 January 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026093.012
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A Relative to Truth
  • Anne McLaughlin, North Carolina State University
  • Book: All Too Human
  • Online publication: 27 January 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026093.012
Available formats
×