We've probably all recognized dips in memory and recollection showing up in loved ones as they age. They are virtually an inevitability, faced by every older person. But, to put a spin on George Orwell's line from "Animal Farm," some memories are more equal than others. I'm not trying to sound flip. Just ask neuroscientists. In his latest essay for Opinion, Charan Ranganath, the director of the Dynamic Memory Lab at the University of California, Davis, explains to readers what he feels is missing from the discussion over President Biden's memory lapses. Singular lapses in memory, even if they occur more frequently than is comfortable or convenient, aren't necessarily signs that someone is ill prepared to lead the United States. According to Ranganath, forgetting is not the same as Forgetting. Let's take a gaffe from last week, when the 81-year-old Biden mistakenly called the leader of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the "president of Mexico" while discussing the Israel-Hamas war. This was an example of forgetting — the inability to recall specific facts or, as in this case, mixing them up with other facts. No question, this doesn't sound great. But let's get some perspective: These kinds of mix-ups happen to all of us, even at younger ages. We all know what it's like to have names and dates and other details crisscrossed in our heads, and be unable to disentangle them before the words are out. We all know what it's like when the exact word to answer a question is stuck on the tip of our tongue. This is not the same as Forgetting — the outright loss or incorrect recollection of a memory itself. Biden has met with el-Sisi before. He's also met with Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He knows who these two men are. The country name came out incorrectly, but Biden's grasp of the situation otherwise was clear and understandable. It wasn't as if he had completely forgotten who el-Sisi was and what his role is. As Ranganath points out, memory is an extremely complicated process. Age is a major factor in eroding the processing and recollection of memory, but it's also just one of many factors. What seems to be happening to Biden over time are more incidents of forgetting, but it doesn't really appear that he's Forgetting crucial facts. None of this is meant to wave off Biden's stumbles as unimportant or irrelevant to his job. He is the president of the United States, after all. Americans want to know the person who occupies that office is sharp enough for the task and has the energy to meet the moments that could change the world forever. And given that this election is shaping up to be a rematch between Biden and the 77-year-old former president he previously beat, that's a conversation we are overdue to have. But fixating on minor flubs will only add more noise to the conversation and keep us from finding clarity. Read the guest essay:
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Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Opinion Today: What memory lapses really mean
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