July 23rds
7/23/1998 “It’s not so much that something is true, it’s that it sounds true. Reading book on memory: Searching For Memory by Dan Schacter. In discussing emotional memories, he posited the “weapon focusing” theory based upon data showing that people held up at gunpoint tend to remember the weapon and none of the other details, such as the gunman’s face. Similarly in music, people tend to focus on the singer (the gun) and seldom notice the periphery. [7/23/2024: Sometimes only the periphery is noticed when the brain is not on high alert, and we tend to focus on the things that typically interest us and avoid things that don’t. The example I always cite is admiring the frame of a painting because you’re not interested in the painting, or not interested in art in general. You’re searching for something, that will in the moment, assuage boredom. Another example is reacting based on familiarity. You might not like art, but will say that it reminds you of something. You searched ...
