Memory works a little bit…like a Wikipedia page: You can go in there and change it, but so can other people. – Elizabeth Loftus
One of the forms of magic characters might encounter in a Dungeons and Dragons game is illusion. Some kinds of wizards or magic-using beings can create realistic illusions that fool the victims into believing something awful is happening, and unless they realize these phenomena are unreal and actively refuse to believe in them, they will suffer harm just as though they were real. My friend Walter (whom I’ve mentioned before) had a running joke; whenever his character was in some sort of a dire predicament that he couldn’t think of a way out of, he would announce “I disbelieve it!” in the forlorn hope that whatever-it-was would vanish away like an illusion dispelled.
Of course, since the situations in which Walter announced this were never illusionary ones, his goal was just to make everyone laugh and/or break the tension of a harrowing episode. But many people in real life think that disbelieving things, no matter what the proof of their existence, should have the legal or actual power to make them vanish; those same people also imagine the reverse, that strongly declared belief in something will make it so no matter what the evidence to the contrary. Fortunately for those of us who prefer to live in the real world, neither of these is true: bad things, or those which are inconvenient to one’s political agenda, cannot be dispersed by denying their existence; neither can nonexistent things, or those convenient to one’s agenda, be materialized by repeating a Shahada often enough. But unfortunately, those who imagine otherwise are in the majority, and the law is often on their side. The declared “beliefs” of cops (whether sincere or otherwise), and the first-person testimony of victims (or those who believe themselves to be victims, or who have been convinced by others that they’re victims) regularly trumps physical evidence in court, even when that evidence is solid and the human statements are incredible, absurd or even impossible. And legislatures are even more disconnected from reality than courtrooms: in statehouses, senates and parliaments the world over, sound evidence and credible, well-supported testimony is routinely disbelieved in favor of political or religious dogma, and the laws enacted from such beliefs are then enforced by vast armies of thugs prepared to inflict violence upon anyone who refuses to let the faith of irrational busybodies define his reality.
If human memory were like a videotape, and people were basically honest, the credibility gap between physical or documentary evidence and human testimony would at least be narrower than it is, and that might justify some degree of prejudice in the minds of the irrational and overly-emotional. But it isn’t, and they aren’t; memory is both fallible and flexible, and people will lie to advance their own interests even when they know it will harm others (and even more so when they can convince themselves that the falsehood advances some “greater good”). These two uncomfortable truths converge in special interest groups; as I explain in my forthcoming research paper “Mind-witness Testimony”,
…after-the-fact input from other people, either peers or authority figures, can distort memories so powerfully that after many repetitions the false memory will actually be much more powerful than real ones from the same time frame. When confronted with proof of the falsity of their memories, some people have even insisted that such proof is either mistaken or manufactured…But even if there has been no external interference at all, the mere repetition of a distorted memory has the effect of strengthening it…The retelling of stories within a group biased toward a particular view produces an even more pronounced distortion, thanks to a psychological mechanism called group polarization…Obviously this dynamic tends to intensify moral panics, but because it alters the mental schemata of those involved it also affects the process of stereotypic conformation…[which means that] memories which fit the individual’s preconceptions are reinforced and those memories which do not are discarded, regardless of whether those memories are true or false…
In other words, even if nobody is actively trying to manufacture false memories, then tend to occur anyway due to the powerful psychological need for group cohesion; when the leaders are actively working to create such confabulations via “reframing experiences”, they can will new memories into existence as easily as audience members heal Tinker Bell by demonstrating their belief in her. And given the willingness of juries and lawmakers to believe in these fictions, the motive to create them is very strong indeed. It is long past time we as a culture grew beyond believing in fairies and imagining that if we shut our eyes and cover our ears, unpleasant things will go away and trouble us no more. Judicial proceedings and public policy must be based on evidence, not on belief, and such evidence cannot be disbelieved away even when we don’t like what it says.
I’ve noticed the “subscribe” option to the right and decided to pitch in. I get more bang from your blog than I do from the [i]Washington Post[/i]—which I finally got a digital subscription to. Enjoy your well-deserved (and long overdue) payback from the Pimp Lobby!
How long has that been there? I didn’t notice until you pointed it out.
It went up last night about 9 PM CDT. I’ve wanted the function for a while so I knew what I wanted as far as subscription levels, etc, but it seemed to me from WordPress’ rules that I was not allowed to have it unless I upgraded. Then on Tuesday WordPress extended customer service, long denied to lowly non-paying users, with a customer service chat function; I used it yesterday afternoon and the very helpful young lady informed me not only that I was allowed, but provided a sheet of detailed instructions! I had to make my own buttons because WordPress doesn’t allow a drop-down menu with different subscription levels, and between that and a lot of other things on my plate yesterday it took me until late evening to get the whole thing designed, set up and programmed.
Early next week I’ll be adding the “buy an autographed copy” function; Eddie, since you already have a copy make sure you wait until I visit Washington, DC (that’s close to where you live, isn’t it?) so I can sign yours in person.
I look forward to meeting you!
I don’t think we’ll ever solve this problem – people will always be fucked up. With so many of them being fucked up – I often ask myself … “Am I fucked up, just like they are? They don’t realize it – why would I?”
Sometimes I think Rust Cohle is right …
Sorta puts my decision to not have children in a new light…
Rust Cohle changed his mind by the end of “True Detective.” I have kids and never regretted it. Even with a huge custody battle.
I always say skepticism begins at home. It is possible that my support of sex workers rights is wrong. That’s why I recently asked a disgruntled former brothel worker whether it was the work or the work conditions she hated. She was quick to respond that it was the work conditions. Specifically, the behavior of the owner. But the point is that she could have told me the work was sucking her soul dry. I would have had to consider such a response as part of the evidence concerning sex work. The evidence, not my opinion, seems to support the claim that most, but not all, former sex workers do not regret having done sex work.
Well, it could be a “soul sucking” experience for some – but that still wouldn’t prove much.
I knew people in the military who would say it was a “soul sucking” experience. I worked as a project manager for a few years with General Dynamics – a six figure income and a suit every day.
It was completely “soul sucking” to me.
I am sure that there are people who are not temperamentally suited to sex work. This particular provider was popular and successful. If it turned out that she hated the work, I would have to take her complaint seriously. Of course, evidence isn’t proof. Evidence just makes your position more or less likely to be correct.
In any case, my point is that the only justification for feeling that you are right is an honest willingness to be proved wrong.
All this talk of RPGs and law brings to mind a game called Rokugan.
The game is set in a fantasy world based on east asia, and you play a samurai that is a member of a clan that represents (loosly) one of the east Asian cultures. All of these cultures bar one (the daisy culture) do not even pretend to use evidence.
Most players scoff and say things that amount to “Haha, backwards olden people” but then exhibit the same exact bias you discissed in this artical whenever a real life political issue comes up.
It’s pretty terrifying.
Daoist, not daisy. Stupid auto correct 🙁
The game is called Legend of the Five Rings and Rokugan is in fact the name of the empire. Interestingly, the storyline is driven by the collectible card game of the same name: tournament winners get to choose between options provided by the editors (the choices are restricted to keep the storyline consistent).
One of the most impressive tests of the fallibility of memory was in an experiment I read about some time ago. A group of students (probably psychology, but I’m not certain) saw a film of a well-dressed business executive being mugged by a thug (who might well have been in a hoodie). Six months later they were questioned about what they remembered. Around 40% were quite certain that the executive was white, and the mugger was black; they could not be shaken from their certainty. Of course, the experiment was ‘rigged’; the ‘typical’ roles were reversed.
And yes, courts do place a lot of weight on witness testimony. Yet jurists are well aware of just how unreliable memory is. It seems likely that witness evidence, like fingerprints and lie-detectors, have such a long history behind them that the processes can’t easily overcome them. And, if real evidential doubt is placed on witnesses’ memories (and on fingerprints and lie-detectors) then the courts could be flooded with appeals, many of which would be successful; and this would then be followed by unaffordable claims for compensation. In the UK at present, the activities of undercover cops are going to be investigated; often these people continued in role during prosecutions (i.e. the cops lied, they perjured themselves). Those where the cops have been unmasked have resulted in successful appeals.
Nothing on earth is perfect.
Apple products are not perfect – BILLIONS still use them and live with the problems. They do this because there isn’t a more “perfect” option for them.
The U.S. Congress is not perfect – but it’s better than having an Emperor in the White House who says … “No problem, I’ll do everything myself”.
The problem is … I always see ideas, culture, social constructions, and laws “indicted” because they are not perfect. Nothing is perfect. The question that is never asked is … “Are there any more perfect alternatives than this?” And in a lot of cases there aren’t.
If you start disregarding all witness testimony – then you are making a case for something much worse – like universal video surveillance. What are you going to replace witness testimony with? It will have to be something. But that’s the thing – too many people are so two-dimensionally dim-witted that they don’t even consider the fact that there may not be a better option out there. Case in point … fossil fuels … which are still the most cost-efficient form of energy we have available. People want to get rid of fossil fuels – just fucking abandon them … shut the coal plants down. We don’t have fuck to replace them with yet that even comes close to their efficiencies but fossil fuels aren’t “perfect” so idiots take the stage to argue to shut them down.
“Apple products are not perfect – BILLIONS still use them and live with the problems.”
Billions? Plural? Two in every seven people on the whole of God’s Green Earth have an apple product of some sort?
And this is the mechanism by which “I had a tummy ache, and I prayed and now it’s gone” becomes “When I was nine, God miraculously healed me of cancer. I remember the hospitals, doctors saying there was no hope…” etc.
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to have been done. And if the first half of that maxim goes missing, well, who really gives a shit?
Person comes in with a false memory of Satanic Ritual Abuse. A whole industry of hundreds of people around them support them, are horrified, need to feel safe again. The courts find a few witches and convict ’em. Sure – sucks for the witches. But think of the hundred, even thousands of other people who have been mollified! The ship of society has been righted! Yay!
Meanwhile, the shyster publishing lurid stories about devil-worshippers in Butthole Alabama counts his money.