How Friends Ruin Memory
How Friends Ruin Memory: The Social Conformity Effect Class Discussion
Summary:
How Friends Ruin Memory: The Social Conformity Effect, by Jonah Lehrer, starts off by talking about how past situations, or occurrences, become interesting stories by the twisting of facts, or not telling the whole truth. Jonah mentions that it is nearly impossible for us, as human beings, to tell the whole truth when it comes to telling a story. He says that this is because we are “social animals, our memory of the past is constantly being revised to fit social pressures.” Lehrer, than talks about an experiment that was done to test the theory that human’s memories are based off of others opinions. This experiment done by four neuroscientists proved that humans choose to alter what they remember so that we fit in with the social norm. Lehrer says, “nearly 70 percent to conform to the group and give an incorrect answer. They had revised their stories in light of the social pressure.” (Pg. 217) After that, Lehrer talks about the results of the experiment and how it proved that, “the feedback of others has the ability to strongly shape our remembered experiences.” (Pg. 218) He mentions that humans are highly influenced by the memory and opinion of others, and trust the judgement of others. Therefor, making it that much easier to alter an individual opinion, and begin to share one with a larger group of people.
Main Claim:
“Because we are social animals, our memory of the past is constantly being revised to fit social pressures.” (Pg. 217)
Key Supporting Points:
- “ like all good narrators… in pure fiction.” (Pg. 217)
- “ leading nearly 70 percent… the social pressure.” (Pg. 217)
- “ but more than 40 percent… their own bullshit.” (Pg. 217)
- “ This research helps… misleading ourselves.’’ (Pg. 218)
Unfamiliar Words or Phrases:
“Flourishing”- Grow, thrive, prosper.
“Mitigate”- Alleviate, reduce, diminish.
“Emergent”- Developing, rising.
Summary:
How Friends Ruin Memory: The Social Conformity Effect, by Jonah Lehrer, starts off by talking about how past situations, or occurrences, become interesting stories by the twisting of facts, or not telling the whole truth. Jonah mentions that it is nearly impossible for us, as human beings, to tell the whole truth when it comes to telling a story. He says that this is because we are “social animals, our memory of the past is constantly being revised to fit social pressures.” Lehrer, than talks about an experiment that was done to test the theory that human’s memories are based off of others opinions. This experiment done by four neuroscientists proved that humans choose to alter what they remember so that we fit in with the social norm. Lehrer says, “nearly 70 percent to conform to the group and give an incorrect answer. They had revised their stories in light of the social pressure.” (Pg. 217) After that, Lehrer talks about the results of the experiment and how it proved that, “the feedback of others has the ability to strongly shape our remembered experiences.” (Pg. 218) He mentions that humans are highly influenced by the memory and opinion of others, and trust the judgement of others. Therefor, making it that much easier to alter an individual opinion, and begin to share one with a larger group of people.
Main Claim:
“Because we are social animals, our memory of the past is constantly being revised to fit social pressures.” (Pg. 217)
Key Supporting Points:
- “ like all good narrators… in pure fiction.” (Pg. 217)
- “ leading nearly 70 percent… the social pressure.” (Pg. 217)
- “ but more than 40 percent… their own bullshit.” (Pg. 217)
- “ This research helps… misleading ourselves.’’ (Pg. 218)
Unfamiliar Words or Phrases:
“Flourishing”- Grow, thrive, prosper.
“Mitigate”- Alleviate, reduce, diminish.
“Emergent”- Developing, rising.