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ReplyDeleteThe Gift of Memory - and the Gift of Perspective
26 July 2011 Mike Urbonas Here at Attivio, we talk a lot — and hear a lot from our customers — about the importance of combining the objective insights of structured data (reporting, trending analysis, etc.) with related subjective insights drawn from unstructured content (documents, emails, web content, knowledge bases, etc.), and the in-depth, even transformative business understanding they have achieved by doing so.
A fascinating, recently re-aired CBS 60 Minutes story reminded me of this fundamental need.
The Gift of Endless Memory, a 60 Minutes story originally broadcast on December, 19, 2010, introduced viewers to emerging research on superior autobiographical memory - the extraordinary capacity to recall specific events from one's personal past. The story featured five of the six people recognized by researchers as having this superlative level of memory, including actress and author Marilu Henner. The star of the hit TV series Taxi, Marilu Henner was discovered by researchers through her friend Lesley Stahl, who also happens to be a 60 Minutes host.
Proving the group members' amazing recall, professional violinist Louise Owen answered such questions as which days in January and February of 1990 it rained at her home of New York City (her answer matched official weather records). Lesley Stahl asked her friend Marilu Henner what happened on October 26, 1976, trying to stump her, but to no avail: Marilu Henner quickly answered she had shot a laundry detergent commercial in Venice, Italy that day, "a Tuesday". TV producer and NFL football fan Bob Petrella answered questions about Pittsburgh Steelers games played over 30 years ago; even recalling key plays (poor Roger Staubach!).
I would have liked to have learned much more about how each group member actively uses their memory to their benefit. How does each person effectively manage what amounts to a vast personal “database” of highly detailed memories, each one as vivid as any other, regardless of the passage of time? This must require putting their memories in perspective; that is, determining what memories are very important (“life lesson” memories, for example) and making some collective sense of those particular memories to help better live in the present.
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Comments from other subjects suggest they are able to temper their powerful memories with the power of perspective. For example, Marilu Henner told Lesley Stahl, “I've always loved having this memory. I feel as an actress and as a writer, it's been indispensable.” Brad Williams, the second superior autobiographical memory subject, said that memories might surface on their own but “it’s no big deal in my life” and credits his memory with helping his work in news reporting. And Louise Owen says while her near-perfect memory can be difficult, it “makes me live my life with so much more intention and so much more joy... I know that I'm going to remember whatever happens today, [so] what can I do to make today significant?”
Of course, the most important aspect of this story is the potential for superior autobiographical memory research to lead to breakthrough discoveries in brain function, including Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders.
But the story is also a compelling living example that in order to gain value and benefit from information, whether it is decades of vividly recollected personal events or vast stores of data, it is essential to also apply perspective and subjective understanding to that information. Doing so is a must to make personal sense of that information and have it serve you instead of being overwhelmed by it.
Author Bio
Mike Urbonas
ReplyDeleteThe Gift of Memory - and the Gift of Perspective
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I would have liked to have learned much more about how each group member actively uses their memory to their benefit. How does each person effectively manage what amounts to a vast personal “database” of highly detailed memories, each one as vivid as any other, regardless of the passage of time? This must require putting their memories in perspective; that is, determining what memories are very important (“life lesson” memories, for example) and making some collective sense of those particular memories to help better live in the present.
I see some parallel between this challenge facing these subjects and the Attivio message of combining objective (structured) data with subjective insights (from unstructured information) to gain true understanding, “see the big picture” and avoid getting distracted by unimportant details.
That said, in an unfortunate contrast to the other subjects, Jill Price, the first documented superior autobiographical memory subject, says she cannot control the spontaneous, all-consuming influx of her past memories, many of them unpleasant. She did not participate in the 60 Minutes story. The level to which such exceptional memory can be helpful or detrimental may depend on one’s ability to apply perspective and reasoning, says Dr. Brian Levine, a neuropsychologist at the University of Toronto:
“Most of us extract generalities. We get the gist of things, so we can navigate in similar situations. But if you have trouble seeing generalities, every instance becomes a unique instance, interesting in its own light. It's like focusing extra-hard on individual trees but not seeing the forest. [Being] swamped with details [makes it] hard to see the bigger picture.”
Comments from other subjects suggest they are able to temper their powerful memories with the power of perspective. For example, Marilu Henner told Lesley Stahl, “I've always loved having this memory. I feel as an actress and as a writer, it's been indispensable.” Brad Williams, the second superior autobiographical memory subject, said that memories might surface on their own but “it’s no big deal in my life” and credits his memory with helping his work in news reporting. And Louise Owen says while her near-perfect memory can be difficult, it “makes me live my life with so much more intention and so much more joy... I know that I'm going to remember whatever happens today, [so] what can I do to make today significant?”
Of course, the most important aspect of this story is the potential for superior autobiographical memory research to lead to breakthrough discoveries in brain function, including Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders.
But the story is also a compelling living example that in order to gain value and benefit from information, whether it is decades of vividly recollected personal events or vast stores of data, it is essential to also apply perspective and subjective understanding to that information. Doing so is a must to make personal sense of that information and have it serve you instead of being overwhelmed by it.
Author Bio
Mike Urbonas