See ‘Why We Remember’ Review: Finding Time Again and Again by Brandy Schillace. She reviews the book Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters by Charan Ranganath.
Ms. Schillace, the editor in chief of the journal Medical Humanities, is the host of the online “Peculiar Book Club” and the author of “Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher.”
Excerpt:
"Memories are “born in the moment of reconstruction,” often with plenty of veracity—but never as photographic copies. They can be influenced by emotion—the stronger the emotion, the more readily our brains will hold on to that memory—and are often the root of hidden biases. A decision we make today may have been influenced by a strong emotional memory; as a result, emotional memories become hidden forces that deeply and often invisibly impact how we view the world, even what jobs, paths or partners we choose. Psychological intervention often requires us to revise our memories and put them into a new, less emotional context [this reminds me of Jung saying we need to ask, “What myth am I living by?”]. The war veteran must learn to hear loud noises without the fear-laden memory response to bombs falling; the child once attacked by a dog must learn to encounter four-legged animals without trepidation. Yet the hidden forces of memory, good and bad, also lead to something more germane: the formation of identity and the creation of our own “life narrative.”
This sense of self sits upon shifting sand, but we should want it no other way. The most significant lesson of “Why We Remember” is that we need not be prisoners to our incompletely remembered past. The very malleability of memory means we can take an active role in what and how we recall, and use it to shape our future."
Also see What Myth are You Living By? by Diane Hancox.
And Revisioning Your Hero's Journey®: A Mythological Toolbox by Robert Walter.
