Friday, November 6, 2015

If You Remember Something Differently From How It Actually Happened, Is that Lying?

I love it when I run across an old movie or episode of a television show that I haven't seen in many years. I'll recall that I liked the movie or the show, and I'll remember certain scenes that caught my attention. Only problem is, I don't always remember the scenes as they actually happened. What I remember and picture in my mind is very close to what actually happened in the movie or television show, but not quite what happened.

For example I first saw, Nowhere To Hide with my Dad when I was really little. Being an animal lover I remembered a scene where a man killed a dog. My memory was of the man slitting the dog's throat. When I watched the movie for the second time 20 years later, I came to discover that the man actually kills the dog by stabbing it in the back of the head. It's a subtle difference, but it really surprised me that as vivid and real as the memory was, it wasn't 100% accurate.

It also recently happened to me when I sat down and watched Casualties of War.  I first saw the movie back in 1991, and recently viewed it for the second time about two weeks ago. I remembered a scene where Michael J Fox protects his crew by hitting what I recalled to be a missile that was headed towards them with his gun. Upon my second viewing, I discovered that he actually hits a grenade that is headed towards them.

It makes me wonder how many of my other memories are close but not 100% accurate to what actually took place. I certainly don't mean to remember things other than the way they happened, but it is clear to me that I sometimes do. Does this constitute as a lie?

What are your thoughts?

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