Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:44:39 +0100
 Subject: Re: Our Malleable Memory


 ----- Original Message ----- 
 From: "Steve B***"

 >On 9/15/07, puca*** wrote:
 
 >>We must all accept that  our memories are not as accurate as we would like to think and, as a
 result, our testimony about events is not as accurate as we would like  to  think.

 >Something which those interviewing witnesses of UFOs and other odd phenomena would do well to
 >bear in mind.

 You're not exactly wrong, just over-selective to the point of giving the wrong impression.

 Why?

 The evidence is that folk who are more accepting of `odd phenomena' are more likely to be `right'
 when seeing something out of the ordinary.

 Whereas those who are more `conformist' or `conservative' by nature are more likely to be `wrong'.

 See www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070911111852.htm - "Liberals More Likely Than
 Conservatives To Break From Habitual Responses, Study Finds"- for latest research

 And maybe google << They were mocked by skeptics in the audience who said "Nothing happened -
 we would have seen it" >> - for earlier examples.

 Therefore, knee-jerk dismissals, ridicule and actual `wrong' evidence / testimony are more likely
 to come from hard-line `skeptics' - those people incapable of recognizing new perceptions.

 Which is maybe fairly obvious.

 Ray D

--- --- ---

 Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:40:08 +0100
 Subject: Re: Our Malleable Memory

 ----- Original Message ----- 
 From: "Steve B***"

 >My point was that I've seen many reports which simply assume that everything the eye witness
 >said *must* be correct because they were there.

 >Every eye witness filters everything both through their own preconceptions, and their fallible
 >memory; the resulting report may turn something quite mundane into something bizarre and 
 >inexplicable. Or the reverse, of course :-)

 Yup, and interestingly it's becoming apparent that a sizable proportion of people - those we
 could classify as `dogmatic' (the  scientists label was `conservative' but that's liable to be
 mis-understood in UK) - go through life blind to much of the reality around them.

 Those results - and earlier ones - show that those folk only `see' what they expect to see.

 [ www.perceptions.couk.com/magic2.html#2 ]

 Explains a lot of problems, both in science and society.

 Ray D 

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