Tue 14 Jul 2026

The photo-taking impairment effect, documented by Henkel (2014, Psychological Science), showed that externalizing memory to a device measurably degrades recall of recorded details compared to direct observation. Cryptographically verifiable memory creates a distinct category: records where both content and temporal provenance are independently auditable without trusting the recorder. This shifts the function of external memory from passive storage — which demonstrably degrades recall — to evidence-grade documentation, a structural difference that may reorganize what humans choose to internalize versus what they delegate to verifiable systems.

Not submitted.