The fact that our memory is nearly 100% fallible (note that I am not saying 100% wrong) means that to some extent we need to doubt what we have really experienced in the past. Our own personal life story is full of bits and pieces that our minds have made up to “fill in the gaps” between the reality that we actually do remember correctly.
Cognition
The Tingle Factor
I was reminded last night of the power of music to affect you in a physical way – I don’t pretend to understand how this works, but it is a very real experience as far as I am concerned. Music affects me in many different ways, depending on the nature of the music – soothing to calm me, martial to inspire, the possibilities are endless, but what I want to concentrate on here is the tingle factor when the power of the music sends a shiver through your body.
Being Wrong
This book almost perfectly matches my own world view – now, perhaps that is simply an instance of one of the dangers warned against in the book – confirmation bias – but I would like to think that it is more than that.
Games People Play
We all do it – whether it is keeping something a secret or “putting on a face” when we are feeling down or slapping on the makeup to make us look better than we do (NOT something I indulge in personally 😉) or dressing for dinner – its all an act – a game we play to hide the ‘reality’ in one way or another from someone or other.
Its Not Just The Big Picture
The devil is in the detail
Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves
Big things come in small packages
The longest journey begins with one step
Understanding Backwards
It was Søren Kierkegaard who said that (and I paraphrase) life can only be understood backwards however we must live it forwards. Although I have been aware of that quote for quite some time it is only recently that I have begun to understand the real nature and truth of it.
Cognition and Things
Music Memories
As a musician, it is not surprising that many pieces of music are associated with particular events/memories. However, it never ceases to amaze me of the wealth of different ways in which the musical memories come about – sometimes it has been through a concert taken part in, sometimes just listening, sometimes music in the background when something has happened and a host of other ways.
Divided By A Common Language
There is some doubt over the attribution of this quote, however there is absolutely no doubt in my mind of its truth – and not just between nations as originally suggested but between all sorts of groups who have developed their own ‘local’ language variants.
Dealing With Dilemmas
One of the consequences of realising that other people are different to ourselves and, therefore, will not necessarily react in the way that you expect to situations is that we are often faced with dilemmas in interpersonal relationships because our behaviour will determine the way that the relationship progresses.