The Secret of Memory: Why Memories Are Always More Beautiful Than Reality

Many old mono-color pictures

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Our memories are always glorified

When I was a kid, my father often took me to rivers, lakes, etc. to fish. In one of my unforgettable memories was a small river. There were some small waterfalls aligned in a row. I fished a lot of trout in the river! Oddly enough, my father always says he doesn’t know such a place. To make matters worse, he says I’ve never fished such a lot. Since then, I’ve been interested in this psychological phenomenon where our memories are glorified. I know brain science has already found out the structure. That is very simple: we make minor changes every time recalling memories. We recall good memories more frequently because feeling good. Consequently, good memories change more and better. That makes sense but is just boring (and difficult to be associated with our promotion), and so, let me share my own theory.

Because our life is non-reproducible

It’s like this. We unconsciously recognize every event happening in our lives is non-reproducible. This would be the reason of our memory glorification. For example, suppose you really enjoy food at some restaurant. I guess it’d not be only because of the food quality, but other factors also influence your good impression. Such as your physical condition, conversation with your companion, the clean and stylish interior of the restaurant, etc. Good events can be said to be miracles resulted from a set of accidents. This is the reason why we adorably polish up memories of good events. We unconsciously know such good events can never be reproduced in exactly the same situation.

The image of our headquarters entrance lobby. A huge dining table with six chairs.

Our products are also non-reproducible

In a sense, our products are non-reproducible because no two wood materials are the same. A good example is our tables. The surface of the top board is one and only, expressive, and special to you. Due to this character unique to natural material, we can’t provide exactly the same one as what you see in person at a shop. I would be glad if you could cherish what you get because it is going to be glorified the same as good memories.


Photo credit: https://cls.soceco.uci.edu/news/false-memories-are-hard-distinguish-lies


Shungo Ijima

He is travelling around the world. His passion is to explain Japan to the world, from the unique viewpoint accumulated through his career: overseas posting, MBA holder, former official of the Ministry of Finance.


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