TED Talk Summary: Scott Fraser “Why Eyewitnesses Get It Wrong”

Scott Fraser explained in TED 's lecture "Why witnesses misunderstood it" in 2012, that the reliability of human memory is low. According to him, undue reliance on eyewitness testimony in the American judicial process mistakenly convicted many innocent people. For example, in the 1991 murder case, an innocent man was arrested based on a witness statement supporting the shooting. However, in a subsequent survey, it became clear that it is impossible for humans to clearly see the site when a murder case occurred. This story shows that human memory is not always reliable. Our memories are made up of information stored in various parts of the brain. According to Fraser, whenever people try to remember their past experiences, the information is rebuilt and our idea creates new information to fill in the lost gap. He suggested that the US justice system should use more scientific evidence instead of witness testimony as the main evidence to avoid illegal arrest. The more the criminal investigation relies on objective evidence, the judicial system can expect fairness.

In a TED speech by a forensic scientist, Scott Fraser, he explained the reality that the perpetrator was mistaken for a crime in the witness's story. He started with a story: drive his father who was playing with his children in the front yard. A man accused of being an archer was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. There is no gun, there is no evidence of the vehicle, only the testimony of the two sons of the man. The convicted man claimed innocence for 21 years. After 22 years imprisonment, he became a free man for Scott Fraser's forensic work.

Scott Fraser explained in TED 's lecture "Why witnesses misunderstood it" in 2012, that the reliability of human memory is low. According to him, undue reliance on eyewitness testimony in the American judicial process mistakenly convicted many innocent people. For example, in the 1991 murder case, an innocent man was arrested based on a witness statement supporting the shooting. However, in a subsequent survey, it became clear that it is impossible for humans to clearly see the site when a murder case occurred. This story shows that human memory is not always reliable. Our memories are made up of information stored in various parts of the brain. According to Fraser, whenever people try to remember their past experiences, the information is rebuilt and our idea creates new information to fill in the lost gap.

A summary of Professor Turkle's view is in the TED meeting held in February 2012. Her first TED talk was in 1996. At that time she was celebrating life on the cover of the Internet and "Connected Magazine". Her view has turned into a technical skeptic in the past 16 years, but they are full of hope. She thinks that antidote to human narrowing by adapting to our machine is a human dialogue. This is the case of the book I reviewed here. Recycling dialogue admits that we are not even close to us and even others who are in front of our children and children. This teaches the same network etiquette that our young people and adults use. As noted above, our distraction between us and those who contact us decreases the ability for us to sympathize. But we are flexible. As Samuel Johnson said in Rambler (1752), "We talked enough, but I did not talk" The necessity of today's conversation is not luxurious.