Announcer: The David Pakman Show at www.DavidPakman.com.
David Pakman: Welcome to the show. It's been just about 10 years since the September 11th,
2001 attacks, and I think before we get to some fascinating, compelling interviews, really
some of the best interviews I think we've done on this program, Louis, in terms of...
in all senses. I don't even know in terms of what, in terms of everything, really, some
of the best interviews.
Louis Motamedi: Yeah, just in comparison to I guess all the rest of our interviews.
David: Right. Very good. Good way to start things off, Louis. Thank you.
I think the best place to start is where were we on 9/11/2001? And my newspaper column this
week, which you can actually read at www.DavidPakman.com, just click on Blog at the top of the page,
actually talks about a Duke University study which suggests that these flashbulb memories
that we all think we have and that are so incredibly accurate in our minds from tragic
events actually may not be as accurate as we think.
And the Duke University study took a group of people the day after the 9/11 attacks and
asked them to write down everything they could remember about where they were, what they
were doing, what they remember on 9/11, and also to write about some unremarkable event
they were involved in on September 10th, 2001.
And they checked in with these people over the course of a year, and at the end of a
year, they continually did the questionnaires, and they did one at the end of the year. It
turns out at the end of the year that many, many people had forgotten key elements or
misstated key elements or gotten elements flat-out wrong from their 9/11 stories.
But not only that, that the recollection, the accuracy of the recollection of their
9/11 story decreased in accuracy by the exact same amount as their recollection of that
unremarkable event on September 10th, which really goes to show that even though we may
think we remember exactly what happened because it was such a tragic event, maybe we really
don't. And I think there's a lot of components... a lot of components to this. Yeah, Natan?
Natan Pakman: Also, there were two findings, one was that the recollection decreased with
the flashbulb memory, you know, to the same extent as the regular memory on September
10th, but also that people were completely sure, they were much more certain that their
memory of 9/11 was correct, whereas they knew that their recollection of the, you know,
the banal event the day after wasn't going to be that accurate.
David: That's right. And considering that, I really do think I remember exactly where
I was on 9/11, and I'll tell you my story. I was sitting, I was a senior in high school,
I was sitting in Mr. Palmezano's psychology class, it was second period, a troublemaker,
a known troublemaker in the class left to go to the bathroom, enters again, and says
hey, guys, interrupts the teacher, "It's like World War III out there." I remember the term
World War III. We're under attack. The U.S. is under attack. We've got to see what's going
on.
And Mr. Palmezano, who you know as well, Louis...
Louis: Right.
David: ... and is a friendly guy with your family, said oh, stop interrupting and sit
down and let me continue the class, I'm sure everything's fine. And lo and behold, the
country was under attack. I ended up leaving and skipping out on the rest of the day and
just watching the news.
And the next day, I remember Mr. Palmezano saying you know, I was wrong yesterday, and
there was something going on, and not everything was OK. And I can assure you that you will
all remember exactly where you were and how you found out about 9/11 because of how it
happened, and you will not forget your classmate's name, either. You will remember who told you.
And you know what? I don't remember the name of that student. So while I do remember being
there and I do remember a lot of the details, I don't actually remember the name of this
individual.
That's where I was. Where were you? You were obviously in the same school in a different
class, I presume.
Louis: Right, except it wasn't a student that notified us. I guess this was after the principal
found out, the administration, so we were sitting in class and the loudspeaker comes
on and says, "The U.S. is under attack."
David: That's what the loudspeaker said. See, I was gone at that point.
Louis: Yeah. And everyone in class just kind of looks around at each other, and I don't
remember exactly what else was said, but I remember hearing distinctly the United States
is under attack. And that... they mentioned it was New York City.
And then, you know, everything started kind of breaking up. The girl next to me said oh,
my God, my grandmother lives in New York, and I guess people who had family there or
something were free to leave, and eventually everyone was free to leave.
David: So people were dismissed that day? See, I was long gone, so I didn't even know
about that.
Louis: I believe people had the option of leaving.
David: I don't remember that happening, but let's...
Louis: Because I remember watching TV at home in the middle of the day. I went home.
David: Right. Natan?
Natan: Yeah, I mean, it's possible that Louis just left school early that day, but I mean,
I... they may have let people go who supposedly had family members in New York, but they certainly
didn't have an early dismissal. But what I was going to say is that the principal's announcement
on the loudspeaker, I distinctly remember her saying that there has been a terrorist
attack on New York City. She didn't say America is under attack. I distinctly remember that.
But, you know, I'm probably as certain of that as Louis is, and we can't both be right.
David: You can't both... so as we see here, some degradation of the memories of 9/11 already
happening here in-studio.
Louis: One of us, yeah.
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