Novel ideas for the commons
- A cognitive plasticity hypothesis: Why are memories so unreliable?by Samer SiwaniOur memories can be highly unreliable. We easily forget and false memories can form very rapidly or be complete fabrications. The main hypothesis describing the possible evolutionary mechanism, giving rise to this effect is: Memory formation is a highly energy draining function and only memories that increase fitness might be prioritised by the nervous system. This hypothesis is likely, but offers inadequate explanation as to why memories can be so inaccurate and unreliable. Here I propose a hypothesis that offers an explanation for the phenomenon. There is a trade-off in nature between stable/generalised memories and unstable/adaptable memories that increase cognitive plasticity.