Neurologist Oliver Sacks on memory, plagiarism, and the necessary forgettings of creativity

“Memory is never a precise duplicate of the original… it is a continuing act of creation,” researcher Rosalind Cartwright reminded us in her fascinating treatise on the science of dreams. “The biggest lie of human memory is that it feels true,” Jonah Lehrer wrote shortly before being engulfed a maelstrom of escalating accusations of autoplagiarism and outright fabulation. Yet while we already know that memory is not a recording device, the exact extent of its fallibility eludes — often, quite conveniently — most of us. (Brain Pickings, 4 februari 2013)

Mahatma and the Poet: Tagore's Letters to Gandhi on Power, Morality, and Science

Between 1915 and 1941, Mahatma Gandhi — who was assassinated 65 years ago today — exchanged a series of letters with Indian poet, philosopher, and celebrated creative spirit Rabindranth Tagore, debating such subjects as truth, freedom, democracy, courage, education, and the future of humanity as India struggled for its independence. The correspondence, collected in The Mahatma and the Poet: Letters and Debates Between Gandhi and Tagore 1915-1941 (public library) is more than a mere addition to history’s notable epistolary exchanges. (Brain Pickings, 30 januari 2013)