Think about an important event in your life: a success, a failure, a difficult relationship or a moment when someone hurt you. How do you remember it today? Has your interpretation of that event remained the same over the years?
Interestingly, our memories are not exact recordings of the past. Each time we recall an experience, our brain reconstructs it, drawing upon fragments of the original event, our present emotions, beliefs and understanding.
We do not merely remember our lives; we continually reconstruct the stories through which we understand them.
The brain: A meaning-making machine
The PBS NOVA documentary Your Brain: Who's in Control? explores how the brain constructs a coherent picture of our lives from countless experiences.
Our brain does not simply register events. It attempts to understand what happened, why it happened and what it means for us. It connects experiences, identifies causes and consequences, and builds a continuing narrative of our lives.
This ability is valuable. It helps us learn from the past, make sense of the present and anticipate the future. But it can also lead us astray.
We may selectively remember experiences that reinforce our existing beliefs. We may interpret an old failure as proof of our inadequacy, or remember a disagreement in a way that strengthens our resentment.
Over time, these interpretations can become part of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.
Memory is not a video recording
Research in cognitive neuroscience confirms that autobiographical memory is reconstructive rather than a perfect reproduction of past events.
A 2024 review by Victoria Wardell and Daniela Palombo, published in Nature Reviews Psychology, explains that even emotionally significant memories can change over time. Details may be forgotten, modified or incorporated into the memory during subsequent recollection.
This does not mean that our memories are generally false. It means that remembering is an active process, influenced by the perspective and circumstances of the person doing the remembering.
The implications are significant. Our understanding of ourselves is partly shaped not only by what we have experienced, but also by how we have interpreted and remembered those experiences.
The philosophical connection: Samskara and identification
Indian wisdom traditions offer an interesting perspective on this process.
The concept of Samskara refers to impressions left by past experiences, which influence our subsequent thoughts, tendencies and responses. Repeated experiences and their interpretations can strengthen habitual patterns of thinking and behaviour.
Over time, we may begin identifying with these patterns.
Someone who has experienced repeated failure may start believing, "I am not capable." Someone who has experienced betrayal may conclude, "People cannot be trusted."
An experience becomes an interpretation; the interpretation becomes a belief; and the belief begins influencing future behaviour.
This is how we can become prisoners of stories that our own minds have constructed.
The practice of self-enquiry in Advaita Vedanta invites us to examine these identifications rather than accept every thought, memory or self-description as the truth of who we are.
We can learn to distinguish between an experience, our interpretation of it and the awareness in which both are observed.
Perhaps freedom begins when we stop treating every story our mind tells us as the unquestionable truth.
A question to carry forward
If our brain constructs our memories and our sense of identity through these narratives, why does conscious effort sometimes interfere with our performance?
Why do accomplished musicians, athletes and other skilled performers often perform better when they stop consciously monitoring every movement?
In Part 7: When Letting Go Gives Us Greater Control.
References and further reading
- NOVA/PBS, Your Brain: Who's in Control? — primary documentary inspiration.
- Wardell, V. & Palombo, D. J. (2024). Stability and Malleability of Emotional Autobiographical Memories. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3, 393–406. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-024-00312-1
- Fivush, R. & Grysman, A. (2023). Accuracy and Reconstruction in Autobiographical Memory: (Re)consolidating Neuroscience and Sociocultural Developmental Approaches. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1620
- Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verse 62 — on how contemplation, attachment and subsequent mental processes shape human behaviour.