Socrates Explains How Memory Works

Socrates presents two analogies to suggest how this could work. Imagine that your memory is like a wax tablet, the kind they used to write on in ancient greece. Some people have tough, dirty wax and are slow on the uptake; others have fluid wax which gets impressions quickly but loses them just as fast. So now for false judgment that would happen when there is a mis match between something you perceive and an existing impression in the wax of your memory. As socrates says, it's like putting your right foot into your left shoe.