--3-- FACTS, MEMORY

Facts: What's Real?

  Fact comes from the Latin factum, meaning a deed; something that actually exists; reality; truth. One characteristic of facts is that they can be objectively verified, proven to be true,through the testimony of witnesses, through observations, or through records or documentation. 

What is Memory?

  Memory is the process of storing information, and as in any process, successive steps or stages are essential for it to work.

Facts and Reality

  Facts are our interpretations of what is real and true, but the problem with interpretations is that they can be wrong. 

   Reality is another term that we all use every day, yet few of us can define. 

   In summary, facts are not the equivalent of truths or reality; they are, at best, only our decisions about what seems to be most real. Human beings need facts because they need certainties in order to proceed through the world. But we should not forte that human beings are fallible.

Standards We Use to Determine Facts

• Verifiability
• Reliability
• Plausibility
• Probability

   Verifiability means the data can be confirmed by another source. This source can be a reference source (like a dictionary), a record (like a marriage license), or a standard (like Greenwich mean time).

  Reliability is when we obtain aggrements or disagreements about facts, we have to consider their degree of dependability.

  Plausibility is meaning they undergo the test of credibility.

  Probability, as tested through time and repetition, represents another standard used to determine the reliability of a fact.