ABSTRACT
The sharing of experiences is a universal human activity and has been argued by some to be the reason autobiographical narrative evolved in the first place. Individually, each of these conversations between friends and family has only a local impact, but collectively their impact is huge, affecting whole communities and even cultures. These shared autobiographical memories of experience become part of the larger societal understanding of the nature of the world people live in. This chapter discusses the experience of a man named Daniel. Emotion played a significant and non-trivial role in Daniel's memories of his day at Silver Falls. Although it is possible to document that Daniel's day at Silver Falls was very satisfying, the well-being it generated will be fleeting. An intriguing and important part of Daniel's final interview was evidence of this strengthened neural connection. For Daniel, choosing to visit Silver Falls was based on a desire to build a better relationship with people he cared about.
