Okay TOKers,
Let's discuss the 60 Minutes video that we watched in class. If you were absent, please watch both parts (below).
Here are some questions to consider. Feel free to add more:
1. If our visual memory is so inaccurate, should eyewitness testimony be considered at all in trials?
2. When has your visual memory failed you? Tell us the story. (Hint: these real-life examples can come in handy when writing your ToK Essay)
3. How can visual memory be influenced by other ways of knowing such as emotion?
4. What role does visual memory play in your experiences in your classes at school?
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I don't think it is fair for a court jury to declare a person guilty based solely on an eyewitness testimony, because many mistakes are often made through memory. This eye-witness in this case (Jennifer) was so sure that Ronald was her rapist that, that one half of her brained failed to notice the actual sight of her actual rapist. Jennifer was very passionate emotionally about finding out who her rapist was. Here in school my visual-memory is very active when it comes to remembering terms or diagrams for a test. My mother recently thought that my visual-memory failed me in one of my most life-shocking situations. It was around 9:35p.m. when I heard some noises coming from down the hallway, while I was in my room. At first I thought it was my mom coming home from work. But, when I paused and constantly called her name nobody responded, and I didn't here the traditional sound of our door unlocking. So, thus far at that point I knew that what ever that noise was, it wasn't my mom. So, I got out of bed very quietly, and crept down to the end of the hall. At first I examined the outside very quickly to see if I was just hearing one of the neighborhood raccoons making all of that noise on our patio. But, what I seen was a tall, lanky, and dark-skinned male holding one of our screens from a window. Once he notice that he had been spotted he took off running. But, later while talking with the cops my mom and I were in strong disagreement about a backpack we found on one of our benches after the whole attempted burglary. My mom believed that maybe my niece or some little kid from our building left it there. Wrong...My niece doesn't have a hideous backpack such as that one. And I'm the youngest kid in this building as far as we all know. I always pass by that patio every day and never has there ever been an empty backpack laying on one of our benches. Besides, our condo is on the very secluded side of the entire building's patio, so there is no reason for any one to be over here on our side unless they are trying to get into our unit. This was very hard for me to try to convince my mom, because I was getting very upset that she might have thought I was just being delusional from being frightened, or something of that sort.
ReplyDeleteThese videos make me feel as if I can never know the truth first hand. It's strange that the only true information cannot be seen during an accident, it has to be discovered. I agree with Ebony that and eye whiteness cannot be the only source of reliable information. However in Jennifer's case she had past information about Ronald which led her belief that he was guilty. There are so many people in the world that have a record like Ronald and could easily have the same mistaken happen.
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