Back in 2002, I heard a great question, from Betchen and Paul Barber: Who cut off Samson's hair?
Of course I said "Delilah"—I knew that had to be wrong (or why would they have asked?), but I didn't have any better answer. The answer is Delilah's servant (or at least her agent, in legal parlance): "Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him."
The point isn't that people remember incorrectly—rather, it's that much of what we remember is oversimplified, and often along rational pathways: In particular, the actions of an agent are easily remembered as (not simply treated as) the actions of the principal who instructed the agent to act.
