Many neuroscientists hold that humans reconstruct their memories and diverge from authenticity through continuous recollection (Radiolab, 2010). Moreover, the brain’s preference for consonance causes dissonance to agitate nerves (Radiolab, 2010). To illustrate, before the first performance of the Rite of Spring, Stravinsky described it as a “concert about springtime”, when in reality, it was about “radical change and ritual murder” (Radiolab, 2010). The audience’s perception was contradicted from their physical memory of reading about the ballet, thus provoking a riot. The following year, the Rite of Spring was presented a second time, and the audience was aware of the nature of the performance, and thus, a riot never occurred (Radiolab, 2010). Moreover, this example can also explain the exaggerations associated with memory. For example, in the podcast “Musical Language”, the animators stated that the riot began after three minutes and described it as bloody and violent (Radiolab, 2010). BBC News reports that “[the riot] has acquired the unquestionable certainty that only legend can have” (Hewett, 2013). Additionally, Esteban Buch believes that “‘the riot’
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Gordon H. Bower, a cognitive psychologist, found that individuals further understand events that “match their emotional state” and better recollect an experience if they “recall the original emotion they experienced during learning” (Bower, 1981). When one recalls their emotions, “both overestimation and underestimation may occur” (Levine, Safer, 2002). Therefore, continuous repetition of an antecedent event may increase or decrease the exaggeration of this memory. In the case of the Rite of Spring, over one-hundred years of collective recital led to an amplification in the mnemonic details. Additionally, the emotions were amplified when the animators characterized the riot as bloody and violent, and only parts of the event were selected in its
Gordon H. Bower, a cognitive psychologist, found that individuals further understand events that “match their emotional state” and better recollect an experience if they “recall the original emotion they experienced during learning” (Bower, 1981). When one recalls their emotions, “both overestimation and underestimation may occur” (Levine, Safer, 2002). Therefore, continuous repetition of an antecedent event may increase or decrease the exaggeration of this memory. In the case of the Rite of Spring, over one-hundred years of collective recital led to an amplification in the mnemonic details. Additionally, the emotions were amplified when the animators characterized the riot as bloody and violent, and only parts of the event were selected in its