You may have heard of the fact that this is the exact length of time it takes for our brains to become aware of a new thing. This is true because our brains are constantly processing and re-organizing our thoughts, which is why we usually don’t seem to be able to recognize that we’ve just completed a task. This is in fact how the brain works; it starts off with the thought of a task and then tries to figure out how to complete the task.
A couple of weeks ago, we did a study that was pretty fascinating. We put ourselves in the shoes of a participant who had just become aware of a new idea. We then asked what the new idea was and watched how they processed the information. In our case, it was a new concept or phrase we were learning about ourselves and how we work.
It turns out that the same process that explains how we are able to make our brains think in new ways also explains how we process information. In short, we use the information we encounter to make new connections and connections that we then use to learn how to think a little differently. For example, we might use the word “I” in order to make a connection with a new thought or image.
You might even say that it’s a type of metacognition. A person who is able to remember facts in a new way without really knowing why they’re there. The same process that explains how we remember and process information can also explain how we recall facts. Like how you can remember a fact but it’s no longer the same as the fact you learned four hours ago.
The problem is that we don’t remember facts. It’s like we don’t remember the fact that someone stole our money. It’s like that person never existed. Or like how we remember when we made a mistake and we have no idea why we made the mistake in the first place.
That said, you can remember the fact that you didnt remember who the person you were talking to was and that the fact is still correct, but its a fact that is now slightly inaccurate.
No, its not, because you were not talking to the person you are talking to any longer. You were talking to someone who knows you and could confirm or deny the fact that you were talking to them. So you are now in a more advanced state of knowledge. This is how we remember the fact that a certain person stole our money: We remember that we never knew he was a thief and we are still able to confirm or deny the fact that he is a thief.
Just because we remember something we don’t know or remember something we don’t know is not the same as having a record of it. That sounds like a contradiction in terms. Still though, 16 hours ago could be quite accurate so we’ll move on.
That’s what you say. But if you are talking about the day before, you should know that this person stole our money. So we should have a record of this, and this could be a date that we know we are not on Deathloop. So that is not a contradiction.