- Someone can tamper with your statement about an event you witnessed—and you might come to believe the altered version is what you actually saw
Since everyone is prone to this, and it could be really important, especially in the example in the article of a criminal case, what can be done to prevent it?It would appear that many of us quite readily internalize fake accounts, mistaking manipulated memories with original memories. We are all sometimes memory blind.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much can be done. Our best option seems to be acknowledging how fallible memory is and changing how we rely on it, especially in criminal cases like Ramona v. Isabella.
The thing is though, if people decide that memory is fallible in witness testimony, that will bring a lot of evidence into question and make it much harder for people to be believed. It's difficult enough for rape victims in particular to sometimes get people to believe them. It could be even harder if people can claim they might be suffering from memory blindness. I'm really enjoying your topics. I hope you post more of them. Thanks for posting the ones you already have.