Quote by Judith Hooper Teresi
If you were designing the sort of information-processing system a brain is, it would be extremely impractical to store memories permanently in their original form. You need mechanisms for transforming and recording them; for chunking information into categories . Is your memory a phonograph record on which the information is stored in localized grooves to be replayed on demand? Is so, it's a very bizarre record, for the songs are different every time they're played. Human memory is more like the village storyteller; it doesn't passively store facts but weaves them into a good (coherent, plausible) story, which is recreated with each telling.
Summary
This quote explains the nature of human memory by comparing it to an information-processing system. It suggests that if a brain were a designed system, it would be impractical to store memories permanently in their original form. Instead, the brain needs mechanisms to transform and record memories, organizing them into chunks or categories. The quote then describes human memory as more akin to a village storyteller rather than a phonograph record. It emphasizes that memory is not a passive and static storage of facts, but an active process of weaving facts into a coherent and plausible story. This story is recreated every time a memory is recalled or recounted.
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