Why You Remember What You Remember

By Author: allan
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Ever wonder why you can recall certain things but not others, or why your recollection of an event is so different from a friend's? Don' t worry, it' s not a sign of premature ageing: Your memory's just doing its job. Here are four things you didn't know about the way your memory works.Your Memories Are Biased A while back; a friend of mine had to decide between a high-salary (but not-so-interesting) job and a low-paying position in a field that excited her. In the end, she accepted the latter and doesn't have a clear recollection about why she ever wanted the other position. The reason? Her mind's been busy erasing evidence that might cast doubt on her choice. By selectively revising history in this way, your memory helps you feel good about decisions, giving you confidence to try new things without doubting yourself.Memories Depend on Your Mood Anxiety interferes with the ability to store and retrieve facts, says a study from Washington University in St. Louis. At the same time, you're more apt to recall events that reflect a mood similar to your current one, says Eldar Safir, Ph.D., a professor ...
... of psychology at Princeton. "If you're grumpy," Safir says, "you' ll recall experiences related to that feeling, thus perpetuating it." That's why it's hard to think of things that will cheer you up when you're having a not-so-great day.The Environment can Change" Your MindThe more sounds and images you associate with an event, the more convinced you are that your memory of it is accurate. In a State University of New York at Stony Brook study, people were instructed to imagine a saw before or after listening to sounds of a construction site. Later, many who'd heard the sounds recalled actually seeing the saw, although they'd only imagined it.Memories Are Your Key to Self-Discovery What you remember, whether major events or smaller incidents, offers meaningful insight into your true interests and aspirations. "We all have these ideas about who we are and what our life story is, and we' re more likely to remember things that fit into it and forget the things that don't," says Mather, Ph.D. of Princeton University. So if you're good at recalling the minute details of what you did on vacation, but can't remember important facts about what happened between nine and five at the office, it's time to sit up and take notice. Your memory could be trying to tell you something. However mean your life is,meet it and live it ;do not shun it and call it hard names.It is not so bad as youare.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor asit is.You may perhaps have some pleasant,thrilling,glorious hourss,even in a poor-house.The setting sun isreflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode;the snow meltsbefore its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there,and haveas cheering thoughts,as in a palace.The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent livesof any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving.Most think that they are above being supported by the town;but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves bydishonest means.which should be more disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage.Do nottrouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,Turn the old,return to them.Things donot change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.