The misinformation effect is the tendency for memories to be heavily influenced by things that happened after the actual event itself. A person who witnesses a car accident or crime might believe that their recollection is crystal clear but, researchers have found that memory is surprisingly susceptible to even very subtle influences. Research has shown that simply asking questions about an event can change someone’s memories of what happened. Watching television coverage may change how people remember the event.
Hearing other people talk about a memory from their perspective may change your memory of what transpired. How does this information affect you? Well, it will now make you more aware and selective of the information you take in. It will cause you to shield yourself from other perspectives until you’ve recorded yours. This recording can be a verbal recording or written. You need to have an unblemished, unaltered version of your memory.
Society bombards us with information. No matter the topic. No matter how recent. There seems to be a spin on everything that comes our way. A ready-made story that unbeknownst to us shapes our memory of the event. If you hear an account from a trusted source, it can become your memory on the event. You’ll find yourself recounting the story as if you were there. With a thought, you may remember that you couldn’t have been there. Who provided the information? How do you have such a strong memory of an account when you weren’t present? Why do you feel so strongly about it? Well, how was the story told to you? That will do it.
We see a lot of garbage stories, articles, and takes on the internet. We click it, dismiss it, and assume nothing was absorbed. That is not how our memory works. We take in all we hear, see, and read. Little bits and pieces are here to stay. The little bits and pieces allow you to answer trivia questions you didn’t think you knew. No, you’ve never read Shakespeare but, you can kill a Jeopardy category about him. That is one of the good examples of how random information can affect you. How can this hurt you?
How will you remember this pandemic? Does any of your memories include people refusing to wears masks and a shortage of toilet paper? That’s not your story. It also doesn’t tell the story of the pandemic. What story will you pass on when you explain it? Were you around for the 9/11 tragedy? Does your version include planes hitting the world trade center by terrorists hired by a country with weapons of mass destruction? Yes, that was the narrative minutes after the incident but, who gathered that information so quickly? Who got it to every news outlet in real-time? That misinformation led to war with a country that had no weapons of such description.
What about accounts none of us were present to confirm? Who is telling these stories? Was that fact-checked back then? Was there anything added or redacted to put a spin on the event? Were the stories making heroes out of villains? That is the danger of misinformation. How many times have you regurgitated a story told to you throughout your life to another person? That person then recites the same story to others as you did, thinking it is their thoughts and feelings. Well, the only person’s account that perpetuates is long gone from this earth. Those who benefit and suffer from the accounts details and delivery are ongoing because of the misinformation effect. Sound familiar?
In closing, the misinformation effect is one of the many tools used by those in the know. With you being in the know, you can use it both ways but, I suggest using it to protect yourself from it rather than weaponizing it. Write down your feelings in totality after your next significant experience. Go a couple of weeks to a month while taking in all of the information pushed to you. Absorb all the stories and spins thrown in on the subject then gather your thoughts. Again, write down your feelings in totality. Compare and contrast. It will scare the hell out of you.
How could your outlook or feelings contrast so much? When exactly did you change your mind? Why do you feel so strongly about something you only gave a sentence the first time around. Be careful of what you allow yourself to take in. It all becomes a part of how you remember things. Do you want your account of your time to be yours? Or should it be another confirmation of the spin that society puts on this time? It’s your choice.
Food for thought…You do the Dishes!
