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Do we have less control over ourselves than we think?

Try to think of a memory.

Soham Dutta
Published in
1 min readJan 15, 2017

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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.

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Soham Dutta
100 Naked Words

Writing frees my thoughts and fuels my creativity! A science enthusiast, my life finds purpose through my guitar, sketches and books 💯