On the NPR TED Radio Hour, Sunday 9th November, Newstalk FM:
Memory is malleable, dynamic and elusive. When we tap into our memories, where’s the line between fact and fiction? How does our memory play tricks on us, and how can we train it to be more accurate? In this hour, TED speakers discuss how a nimble memory can improve your life, and how a frail one might ruin someone else's.
Forensic psychologist Scott Fraser studies how we remember crimes. He talks about one case that involves a deadly shooting, and says that even close-up eyewitnesses can create memories that they may not have seen. Why? Because, he says, the brain abhors a vacuum.
Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman talks about a series of events, from vacations to colonoscopies. He explains how our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" perceive happiness very differently.
Some people can memorize thousands of numbers, the names of dozens of strangers, or the precise order of cards in a shuffled deck. Science writer and U.S. Memory Champion Joshua Foer shows how anyone can become a memory virtuoso, including him.
The NPR TED Radio Hour on Newstalk 106-108 FM, this Sunday at 6pm.
Listen back to TED Radio Hour 'Memory Games' here.
