I really have no idea how common this is with other folk, but I have certain false “memories” that, no matter how much I exorcise them with facts, keep recurring. All the ones I’ve identified are dream-based.
Example: I sometimes wake in the night with a sense of loss, of having done something really, really stupid, and then I “recall”–very vividly–that I left the first car I ever bought behind in a move, just sitting in a parking space in front of a neighbor’s house with the key in it. Now, we moved from that house more than 20 years ago… and that was eighteen years after someone *cough* drove my car into the ground and had it hauled off to the junkyard while I was traveling with a music tour for the summer.
But still, every now and then, despite knowing what happened to that car, I “remember” leaving it behind, sitting in front of a neighbor’s house when my wife, kids and I moved.
Now, I’m always able to–temporarily–exorcise the “memory” and, like other false memories, I’ve always recognized it as such (though sometimes, in the middle of the night, not until I’ve given it some thought). But do I recognize all such false memories as being false?
How can I know?
Of course, when I have what I call my First Car Dream/False Recollection, the feeling of having done something really stupid is not false. After all, I approved the use of my car by the person who ended up having it hauled to the junk yard because he didn’t even check the oil. *shrugs* But why beat myself up over it 40 years after the fact? Have I not indeed forgiven both the junker and myself? *shrugs* I dunno. Thought so, but maybe my unconscious disagrees with me.
Interesting. Not sure I have such occurrences. If I do, I must not know they are false memories. 🙂
As I said, all that I’ve identified have been linked to vivid dreams–and all are middle-of-the-night things, AFAIK. Must be unfinished business involved somewhere. *shrugs* I just re-program for a new dream and attempt to go back to sleep, or else I get up and do something unrelated after rehearsing the facts that are contra the false memory, then try to go back to sleep. Interesting stuff, and as I said I’ve no idea how many other folks deal with the same thing.
Oh, another one has been with me a LONG time, and it’s a “driving” dream/false memory. Same thing every time. Same (non-existent) place/road, different car almost every time. Probably developed from a few trips over a narrow mountain pass road I made several times during my high school/college years. Even when dreaming it, now, I KNOW it’s not true, but I wake felling very, very strongly as though it were a real memory, colors, sounds, smells and all. *meh* Last time I drove that road was well over 20 years ago with my wife and kids in the car, and I REALLY DID NOT want to drive it, but did anyway, because I wanted them to see the view I do enjoy at a turnout (the one and only) near the top.