Do we have less control over ourselves than we think?
Try to think of a memory.
Recalling a memory constitutes consciously constructing a list of remembered facts and ideas that we are able to call back at a moment’s notice. This memory we are aware of and is known as explicit memory.
But there is a majority of memories that we are unaware of and cannot recall— implicit memories — reside inside our subconscious.
Maybe you like butterscotch ice-cream purely as an extension of the pleasurable experience you have had as a child when your parents took you out to weekend movies and you all had ice-cream, even if you didn’t like ice-cream to start with.
Psychologists think these memories play a significant role in impulsive behavior. You may impulsively go for butterscotch ice-cream, unconsciously deriving pleasure from your happy childhood.
