Within Mythcraft
Why Memory Is Not a Video Recording
Memory is reconstructive, so confident recall is not the same as a perfect recording of events.
On this page
- The recording metaphor
- Confidence and accuracy
- How memory changes over time
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Introduction
Many people think memory works like a video recording: experiences are stored, preserved and later replayed when needed. That idea feels intuitive because some memories seem vivid, detailed and emotionally powerful. Yet decades of cognitive psychology research show that memory is not a literal recording system. It is reconstructive. Each act of remembering involves rebuilding an event from stored fragments, expectations, later information and current interpretation. [Simply Psychology]simplypsychology.orgBartlett's theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of the reliability of eyewitness testimony… [Simply]simplypsychology.orgBartlett's theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of the reliability of eyewitness testimony…
This misconception matters most when memory is treated as evidence. Courts, juries, police investigators and ordinary people often assume that a confident witness is recalling events exactly as they happened. In reality, confidence and accuracy are related in more complicated ways. A person can express great certainty while recalling details incorrectly, and memories can change over time without the witness realising that anything has changed. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju… [National]nationalacademies.orgNational AcademiesIdentifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification…Evidence indicates that self-reported confidence at the…
The recording metaphor
The idea of memory as a recording device has deep cultural roots. People commonly describe memories as being “stored”, “replayed” or “retrieved” as though they were files sitting unchanged in a mental archive. Cognitive research paints a different picture.
When an event occurs, the brain does not preserve a perfect copy of everything that happened. Attention is limited. People notice some details and miss others. Stress, distraction, lighting conditions, distance and prior expectations all influence what becomes encoded in memory in the first place. Later recall involves reconstructing the event from what was originally encoded, together with information acquired afterwards. [BCcampus Pressbooks]pressbooks.bccampus.caBCcampus PressbooksCHAPTER 8: EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: MEMORY AND…In this chapter, we discuss two related aspects of eyewitness testimony… [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju…
The psychologist Frederic Bartlett demonstrated this reconstructive process as early as the 1930s. Participants recalling stories often reshaped them into forms that better matched their existing knowledge and expectations. Modern research on eyewitness testimony has repeatedly shown similar effects. Witnesses do not simply replay experiences. They actively reconstruct them. [Simply Psychology]simplypsychology.orgBartlett's theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of the reliability of eyewitness testimony…
This does not mean memory is useless or completely unreliable. Most everyday memories are broadly accurate enough for ordinary life. The misconception lies in treating memory as a flawless recording rather than a reconstruction that can contain omissions, distortions and later additions. [ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comScienceDirect Misinformation EffectMisinformation Effect - an overviewIn a typical misinformation effect study, participants witness an event, usually visually via slides (…
How later information becomes part of a memory
One reason the recording metaphor fails is that memory remains open to influence after an event has occurred.
Research by Elizabeth Loftus and colleagues showed that subtle changes in questioning can alter what people later remember. In the famous car-crash experiments, participants who were asked how fast cars were going when they “smashed” into each other tended to report higher speeds and were more likely to remember broken glass that never existed compared with participants who heard less dramatic wording. [Simply Psychology]simplypsychology.orgBartlett's theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of the reliability of eyewitness testimony…
This phenomenon became known as the misinformation effect. Information encountered after an event can become incorporated into a person’s recollection, making the altered memory feel as real as the original experience. The result is not necessarily deliberate lying. Witnesses often believe sincerely that they are reporting exactly what they saw. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju… [ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comScienceDirect Misinformation EffectMisinformation Effect - an overviewIn a typical misinformation effect study, participants witness an event, usually visually via slides (…
The key lesson is that memory errors often arise from normal cognitive processes rather than dishonesty or incompetence.
Why confidence can be misleading
One of the most persistent misconceptions about eyewitness testimony is that confidence reliably signals accuracy. Jurors, investigators and the public frequently treat certainty as evidence that a memory must be correct.
Research has repeatedly found that this assumption is too simple. Studies show that people often rely on witness confidence when judging credibility even though confidence measured much later, especially at trial, is not a dependable indicator of accuracy. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju… [National]nationalacademies.orgNational AcademiesIdentifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification…Evidence indicates that self-reported confidence at the…
A witness may become more confident for reasons unrelated to the original memory:
- Repeated retelling can make a story feel more familiar and coherent.
- Feedback from investigators or other witnesses can reinforce certainty.
- Exposure to media coverage, photographs or discussions can strengthen belief in a memory.
- Confidence may grow as details are reconstructed into a more complete narrative. Noba DigitalCommons Because people often experience confidence as a feeling of truth [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPubMedThe Relationship Between Eyewitness Confidence and…by JT Wixted · 2017 · Cited by 809 — The US legal system increasingly accepts…, these changes can be difficult to detect. The witness may honestly report increased certainty while remaining unaware that the memory itself has evolved.
The important qualification
Modern eyewitness research has added an important nuance. Some earlier discussions suggested that confidence tells us almost nothing about accuracy. More recent work argues that under carefully controlled conditions, a witness’s confidence at the moment of an initial identification can sometimes provide useful information about accuracy. [PubMed]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPubMedThe Relationship Between Eyewitness Confidence and…by JT Wixted · 2017 · Cited by 809 — The US legal system increasingly accepts…
Researchers such as John Wixted and Gary Wells have argued that high-confidence identifications made immediately under fair lineup procedures can be more reliable than many people assume. However, this finding comes with significant conditions. The identification must be collected early, before contamination, using proper procedures that avoid suggestion and bias. [PubMed]pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPubMedThe Relationship Between Eyewitness Confidence and…by JT Wixted · 2017 · Cited by 809 — The US legal system increasingly accepts… [Sage Journals]journals.sagepub.comSage JournalsEyewitness Confidence Does Not Necessarily Indicate…by KN Moore · 2024 · Cited by 13 — Scholars agree on a strong but imp…
This does not restore the recording metaphor. Instead, it highlights a more precise point: confidence can sometimes be informative when measured at the right time and under the right circumstances, but confidence expressed after repeated questioning, discussion or courtroom preparation may tell a very different story. [National Academies]nationalacademies.orgNational AcademiesIdentifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification…Evidence indicates that self-reported confidence at the… [Sage Journals]journals.sagepub.comSage JournalsEyewitness Confidence Does Not Necessarily Indicate…by KN Moore · 2024 · Cited by 13 — Scholars agree on a strong but imp…
How memory changes over time
The common image of memory assumes that a stored experience remains unchanged until it is retrieved. Research suggests something closer to the opposite.
Remembering is not merely accessing a memory. Each act of recall can alter the memory itself. When people revisit an event, they may strengthen certain details, forget others or integrate new information. Over time, the remembered version can drift away from the original experience while still feeling authentic. [BCcampus Pressbooks]pressbooks.bccampus.caBCcampus PressbooksCHAPTER 8: EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: MEMORY AND…In this chapter, we discuss two related aspects of eyewitness testimony… [Wikipedia]WikipediaEyewitness testimonyEyewitness testimony
This process helps explain why eyewitness accounts sometimes change across interviews. Changes do not automatically mean a witness is lying. Nor does consistency automatically prove accuracy. A witness can consistently repeat an inaccurate memory that has become firmly established through repetition and reconstruction. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju…
Flashbulb memories and the illusion of certainty
People often point to vivid memories of dramatic events as evidence that memory can function like a recording. Many individuals can recall where they were during major disasters, terrorist attacks or other shocking events.
Psychologists call these highly vivid recollections flashbulb memories. They often feel exceptionally clear and emotionally compelling. Yet research has found that such memories can contain substantial inaccuracies despite the person’s strong confidence in them. Emotional intensity tends to increase the feeling of certainty more reliably than it increases factual accuracy. [Wikipedia]WikipediaMemoryMemory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed.Read more…
The result is a powerful illusion. A memory can feel detailed, stable and unquestionably real while still containing distortions that accumulated over years of retelling and reconstruction.
Why eyewitness confidence still influences people
Even when people know memory is imperfect, they often continue to trust confident witnesses. Part of the reason is that confidence is easy to observe whereas accuracy usually is not.
Jurors cannot travel back in time to verify what happened. They therefore rely on cues such as confidence, consistency, emotional expression and detail. Research suggests that many of these cues are weaker indicators of accuracy than people assume. [PMC]pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju…
This creates a practical challenge for legal systems. A sincere witness may be entirely convinced of a memory that has been altered by suggestion, stress, repeated recall or post-event information. The confidence displayed in court can be genuine while the memory itself remains partly inaccurate. [American Psychological Association]apa.orgeyewitness identificationAmerican Psychological AssociationImproving eyewitness identification key to protecting…Feb 10, 2020 — “Over the past few decades, ser… [Department of Public Advocacy]dpa.ky.govDepartment of Public AdvocacyEyewitness MisidentificationAn eyewitness' false identification of an innocent suspect as the perpetrator of…
Wrongful-conviction research has helped make this issue visible. Reviews of DNA exoneration cases have repeatedly identified eyewitness misidentification as a major contributing factor. These cases do not show that eyewitness memory is worthless. They show that confidence alone cannot be treated as proof that memory functions like a recording. [Department of Public Advocacy]dpa.ky.govDepartment of Public AdvocacyEyewitness MisidentificationAn eyewitness' false identification of an innocent suspect as the perpetrator of…
A better way to think about memory
The most accurate replacement for the recording metaphor is not that memory is broken, but that memory is constructive.
Memory evolved to help people interpret experiences, make predictions and guide future behaviour. It was not designed to act as a perfect archive. Most of the time, reconstructive memory works remarkably well. It allows people to retain the meaning of events without preserving every detail. Problems arise when reconstruction is mistaken for exact playback. [Simply Psychology]simplypsychology.orgBartlett's theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of the reliability of eyewitness testimony…
Understanding this distinction changes how eyewitness testimony should be interpreted. A confident witness is not necessarily accurate, and an inaccurate witness is not necessarily dishonest. Memory is neither a video recording nor a random invention. It is a reconstruction of the past, shaped by what was originally experienced, what happened afterwards and how the event has been remembered over time. [ScienceDirect]sciencedirect.comScienceDirect Misinformation EffectMisinformation Effect - an overviewIn a typical misinformation effect study, participants witness an event, usually visually via slides (… [National]nationalacademies.orgNational AcademiesIdentifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification…Evidence indicates that self-reported confidence at the…
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The Seven Sins of Memory
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Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) Third Edition
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Remember
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Endnotes
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Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: ScienceDirect Misinformation Effect
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/misinformation-effectSource snippet
Misinformation Effect - an overviewIn a typical misinformation effect study, participants witness an event, usually visually via slides (...
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Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4131297/Source snippet
PMCAn Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Errorby RA Wise · 2014 · Cited by 67 — Furthermore, in assessing accuracy, ju...
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Source: pressbooks.bccampus.ca
Link: https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/psyc268/chapter/chapter-8/Source snippet
BCcampus PressbooksCHAPTER 8: EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY: MEMORY AND...In this chapter, we discuss two related aspects of eyewitness testimony...
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Source: sciencedirect.com
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661325000270Source snippet
Many believe that eyewitness memory is...Read more...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Eyewitness testimony
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyewitness_testimony -
Source: sciencedirect.com
Title: ScienceDirect Misinformation Effect
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/misinformation-effectSource snippet
Misinformation Effect - an overviewThe misinformation effect, discussed by Levine and Loftus in their article on eyewitness testimony, is...
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Source: pressbooks.bccampus.ca
Title: 10 6 when memory is wrong
Link: https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/psychcapilano/chapter/10-6-when-memory-is-wrong/Source snippet
People are more confident in the accuracy of their memories than they should be. Memory is reconstructive.Read more...
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Source: Wikipedia
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MemorySource snippet
MemoryMemory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed.Read more...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: Elizabeth F. Loftus
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSo_esEgIjcSource snippet
Elizabeth Loftus - Eyewitness Testimony...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: Elizabeth Loftus
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syo1tOH0rfwSource snippet
eyewitness memory false memory reconstruction False Memories and the Misinformation Effect Bite-Sized Psychology...
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Source: simplypsychology.org
Link: https://www.simplypsychology.org/eyewitness-testimony.htmlSource snippet
Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory is crucial to an understanding of the reliability of eyewitness testimony...
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Source: simplypsychology.org
Title: loftus palmer
Link: https://www.simplypsychology.org/loftus-palmer.htmlSource snippet
Simply PsychologyLoftus and Palmer 1974 | Car Crash Experimentby S McLeod · Cited by 3 — Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has been particula...
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Source: nationalacademies.org
Link: https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/18891/chapter/8Source snippet
National AcademiesIdentifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification...Evidence indicates that self-reported confidence at the...
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Source: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28395650/Source snippet
PubMedThe Relationship Between Eyewitness Confidence and...by JT Wixted · 2017 · Cited by 809 — The US legal system increasingly accepts...
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Source: journals.sagepub.com
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/23727322241268384Source snippet
Sage JournalsEyewitness Confidence Does Not Necessarily Indicate...by KN Moore · 2024 · Cited by 13 — Scholars agree on a strong but imp...
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Source: apa.org
Title: eyewitness identification
Link: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/02/eyewitness-identificationSource snippet
American Psychological AssociationImproving eyewitness identification key to protecting...Feb 10, 2020 — “Over the past few decades, ser...
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Source: dpa.ky.gov
Link: https://dpa.ky.gov/kentucky-department-of-public-advocacy/about-dpa/kip/causes/misid/Source snippet
Department of Public AdvocacyEyewitness MisidentificationAn eyewitness' false identification of an innocent suspect as the perpetrator of...
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Source: apa.org
Link: https://www.apa.org/monitor/apr06/eyewitnessSource snippet
How reliable is eyewitness testimony?Apr 1, 2006 — The formula, Loftus says, allows expert witnesses-like himself-to use a specific mathe...
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Source: nij.ojp.gov
Title: eyewitness testimony
Link: https://nij.ojp.gov/taxonomy/term/eyewitness-testimonySource snippet
testimony | National Institute of JusticePotential jurors evaluate eyewitness confidence and decision time statements across identificati...
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Source: nij.ojp.gov
Title: eyewitness memory
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Memory | National Institute of JusticePsychological Counseling and Accuracy of Memory for Child Sexual Abuse... Confidence, Latency, and...
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ty of Eyewitness Identification in Law Enforcement and the Courts...Read more...
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Assessing Eyewitness Identification (2014)The accuracy and reliability of eyewitness identification are critically modulated by variables...
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Title: sc The Misinformation Effect
Link: https://support.gorilla.sc/support/educational-resources/classic-psychology-tasks/misinformation-effectSource snippet
Misinformation Effect - Gorilla Support DocumentationMisinformation refers to the fact that language in post-event questions can influenc...
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Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/48568428Source snippet
Rethinking the Reliability of Eyewitness Memoryby JT Wixted · 2018 · Cited by 235 — Eyewitnesses typically provide reliable evidence on a...
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Source: ebsco.com
Link: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/misinformation-effectSource snippet
Misinformation effect | Social Sciences and HumanitiesThe misinformation effect refers to the phenomenon where post-event information can...
Additional References
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Source: nij.ojp.gov
Title: effect viewing distance empirical discriminability and confidence accuracy 0
Link: https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/effect-viewing-distance-empirical-discriminability-and-confidence-accuracy-0Source snippet
effect of viewing distance on empirical discriminability and...1 Jan 2022 — The effect of viewing distance on empirical discriminability...
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Source: judicature.duke.edu
Link: https://judicature.duke.edu/articles/distinguishing-between-reliable-and-unreliable-eyewitnesses/Source snippet
Distinguishing Between Reliable and Unreliable EyewitnessesIncreasing research shows that eyewitness confidence at the time of the initia...
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Source: nobaproject.com
Link: https://nobaproject.com/modules/eyewitness-testimony-and-memory-biasesSource snippet
NobaEyewitness Testimony and Memory BiasesTheir accuracy for items they had not previously discussed with their co-witness was 79%. But f...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/PsychEducJournal/posts/elizabeth-loftus-is-an-american-psychologist-known-for-her-groundbreaking-resear/836336505557356/Source snippet
Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary JournalEyewitness testimony – Elizabeth Loftus is one of the earliest psychology researcher...
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Link: https://www.policinginstitute.org/onpolicing/eyewitness-identification-in-law-enforcement-bridging-the-gap-between-science-policy-and-practice/Source snippet
Eyewitness Identification in Law Enforcement: Bridging the...18 Mar 2026 — New findings from the Eyewitness Identification Research Proj...
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Why Confident Eyewitnesses Often Provide the Least...15 Oct 2025 — Meanwhile, judges admit eyewitness testimony under standards that ass...
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Source: ojp.gov
Title: how potential jurors evaluate eyewitness confidence and decision time
Link: https://www.ojp.gov/library/publications/how-potential-jurors-evaluate-eyewitness-confidence-and-decision-timeSource snippet
Office of Justice ProgramsHow potential jurors evaluate eyewitness confidence and...by CA Carlson · 2022 · Cited by 14 — How potential j...
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Source: psych.utah.edu
Link: https://psych.utah.edu/_resources/documents/people/committee-docs/fall-2025/2024%20-%20Moore%20et%20al%202024%20Eyewitness%20Confidence%20Does%20Not%20Necessarily%20Indicate%20Accuracy.pdfSource snippet
Confidence Does Not Necessarily Indicate...by KN Moore · 2024 · Cited by 11 — Generally, laboratory studies find adult eyewitnesses have...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPvGadHulSESource snippet
"This Is Psychology" Episode 5: Eyewitness testimonyIn this episode, Dr. Anderson discusses research that has identified a number of reas...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq6u_4xtVh0Source snippet
Common Law S4 E8: The Psychology of Eyewitness MemoryEyewitness testimony is you experience something or you see something and that's how...
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