Summary Of Some Close Encounters Of A Mental Kind By Stephen Gould

James Watson once said, “The brain is the most complex thing we have yet discovered in our universe”. It is responsible for every single movement in our body; from thinking, learning, breathing, creating memories and more. But the brain is not always perfect. We all have occasional “brain farts” or misperceptions of the world around us. Sometimes we believe that we have experienced vivid moments that we have never actually been through. The human brain is the most extraordinary thing in the universe but sometimes we create false memories without knowing.

The human brain consists of a hundred billion neurons, as many as the entire Milky Way galaxy (“Voytek”). It stores numerous memories from childhood to the present. The majority of us, however,

He relates to his own experience from his childhood at the Devils Tower in Wyoming in which described as a major landmark. It could be seen from tens of miles away and was used by pioneers as a guide through their paths. Unfortunately, when he visited the Devils Tower thirty years later, it was not at all what he remembered. The tower couldn’t be seen for more than three miles away. He even insists that his former memory was true. This phenomenon happens because sometimes the brain creates false memories making something like the Devils Tower seem impressive when it actually is

She even remembered her father impregnating her twice and forcing her to have abortions. Because of this, her father had to resign his position in the church when the allegations spread. However, after medical tests, it was shown that she was still a virgin and had never been pregnant (“Loftus”). She was so confident in her false memory but it was not true. Investigations today show that under the right situations, false memories may be implanted easily in people like in eyewitness testimonies. Memories can be misinterpreted easily especially with the passage of time. This is why during interrogations, eyewitnesses’ can feel pressured and choose the wrong suspect such as the Tillman case. Tillman was accused of kidnapping and raping a woman in 1988. DNA analysis of the semen showed that it had come from someone else and he was wrongfully imprisoned for eighteen years (Duke