Mamadi Doumbouya for The New York Times Talk A Leading Memory Researcher Explains How to Make Precious Moments LastOur memories form the bedrock of who we are. Tell me more about what you mean when you say “illusion.” I probably overstated it with the word “illusion,” but there is an illusionary component. But if you think about it from an evolutionary perspective, memory, often, is educated guesses by the brain about what’s important. You know, the training environment I was in was very down on psychoanalysis, but it always comes back to memory. We have these little compartments that are rooted somewhat in memory that we can access at different moments.

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Persons: Mamadi Doumbouya, ”, Charan Ranganath, Davis, Ranganath, ” Ranganath, You’re, “, shoplifted, there’s, We’re, Charan, UC Davis, you’re, you’ve, Sasha Bakhter, It’s, hadn’t Organizations: The New York Times, University of California, UC, Smiths, UC Davis Locations: Davis