You are what you care about (aka..why our economy is crashing)

I read a very interesting article from wired magazine today.
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/17-04/ff_perfectmemory?currentPage=3.

The article is about a woman who has been interviewed all over the main stream media because of an apparent perfect memory. Every time the main stream media interviews her, they make her out to be a walking hard drive, that can never get anything wrong. And of course, this makes her out to be somewhat of a sensation. It seems, she should be someone that is idolized. I mean, there is a whole industry of people selling you products that are going to increase your memory so you can be better at work. And this story, is a clear example of why scientists don't get to be featured in the main stream media very often, because they have very keen bull shit sensors. And thats not to say that this woman doesn't have an incredible memory (google "jill price and you can see her recollection abilities), she can recall exact dates of things that happened 20-30 years ago. She can recall exact dates of airplane crashes, TV shows, or where she was when something happened or even what the weather was when it happened.
But that is why the psychologist that does this piece is great. There's a line in his story where he talks about how everyone seems to know someone with a "photographic memory" but there is never any indication. Its kind of like telepathic powers, its bullshit, undocumented, urban legend. His point could've been made much clearer than he did (because he was being nice), there is no such thing as photographic memory!!!
Wait a second, you might say if you read up on Jill Price. She really can remember those dates, this in not a hoax! No, but you have to dig a deeper. The question is not what CAN she remember, but what can't she. So this psychologist gives her a series of tests, "what year was the magna carta signed, read back to me a list of these words, etc." When given these types of things, Jill Price's memory is no different than anyone else. She is unable to remember the list of 7 and even adds some words that weren't on the list (this is apparently very common). She has no idea when the magna carta was signed (neither do I).
To explain why, one needs to digress and talk a bit about memory. You do not store things in your brain the same way a computer does. There is no one place for a specific memory as there is on a computer hard drive. Furthermore, there is no difference in the human (or animal for that matter) brain between learning something and remembering something. To remember something is to learn it all over again. You remember things by repeated learning. That is to say, your brain, molecularly speaking, has to continually go through the process of relearning something to make it stick. The more times you recall it, the more times its likely to stick. This is why you can remember your pin, passwords, addresses, etc. And you can't remember something by taking one good look at it and just really really wanting to remember it. You have to say it aloud a few times, either in your head or aloud.
So why does this woman have such a remarkable memory, well, basically because a) she does not seem to get out much and b) all she does is ruminate about her own past. She is pretty self-absorbed it seems. And when they look at brain scans of her, it appears that the only thing even remotely different about her brain is that it is similar to people afflicted with OCD. She obsesses about her own past and thus she can remember anything that happened during her life with computer-like precision. Its really no big deal. This woman should be pitied, not held on a pedestal.
Now, how in the world can I compare this to troubled US economy. The answer has to do with the difference between truly understanding what is going on by asking a couple extra questions or just looking at something with a quick glance and concluding that it contains some crazy secret to success or almost other-worldly grace. Companies treated the real estate market and investment models as if it would go up forever. People thought that they could live off of refinancing their homes because their value would go up forever. People who were smart enough to make millions of dollars and then hand it over to someone else to watch while they retired at 40 or 50, were stupid enough to think that it was normal or sustainable to be receiving the EXACT same sum of money each month from investors like Bernie Madoff. The connection with Jill Price is that people will watch her on 20/20 or the like and conclude that there is some genetic component to learning or memory and use that as an excuse for their lot in life. And further down the road, someone might use Jill Price to separate some fool from his money in a scheme to enhance your memory that you may remember things like Jill Price. The person who should be getting interviews from 20/20, and be going on non-stop press junkets isn't Jill Price(she needs a hobby)its the psychologist/journalist who wrote the story; so he can teach Americans a thing or two about thinking and analysis that might prevent some simpleton from thinking he/she/it just found out about the next big thing.