Let's do a little experiment. Think of a movie you saw about 5-10 years ago. Now try to remember as many details in the movie as you can. It would be even better if you made a list. After you are done, watch the movie. Pay special attention to details you wrote down. You will be surprised at how many things you remembered wrong. 

So why do false memories occur? Or brains aren't perfect. They store tons of information each day. But unlike your computer, you cannot just locate a memory. In order to prevent our brain from getting overloaded with information, we forget things. Gaps form in our memory. So when recalling a certain event, our brain tries to fill in the gap with the logical thing, or some other information, creating false memory.

Now why is this good? You may remember some bad things that happened in your life. But think this way - what if they never happened at all, or differently than you remember them? You may be 100% sure things did happen the way you recall them, but you were sure the same way before watching the movie!

~ Milena