Member-only story
Why Our Brains Want to Spread Misinformation
Even when it’s banal or harmless, this is why we can’t help spreading false information
The other day, I came across a cute little video. It is a monkey playing a memory game incredibly well. Way better than I ever could. Underneath is an explanation: “Millions of years ago,” it says, our ancestors “lost a tremendous amount of short term memory,” which we replaced with different brain material. “But why? So we can — talk.” The conclusion is that chimpanzees, who haven’t made that sacrifice, can accomplish amazing feats of memory but we, who have, can’t.
It is one of those conclusions that is surprising and kind of delightful. I’m tickled by the idea that ancient humans swapped one part of their brain for another, like making space in a cupboard. I watch a few seconds of the monkey tapping away at the memory game and then I scroll on. (The video is two and a half minutes of a monkey tapping a screen. Who has that sort of time these days?)
