Distant memories

Dalia

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Sep 19, 2016
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I ask a simple question but perhaps not so simple to answer.

Why are some memories so fresh in our memory and others erased forever?

A memory of little importance that dates from a long time is intact while a closer memory is erased.

What is the reason , the explanation ?
 
Some of what memories we keep is intentional.

I heard a neurologist make a point that was very revealing about how the brain works --- that a memory in the brain does not work like a videotape, rather it's a story one tells oneself, over and over.

In the process of that retelling of course, things get embellished. And other parts get eliminated. Or merged with other stories.

I always thought of my oldest memories, like the day my sister was born, as more like "memories of memories".
 
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Some of what memories we keep is intentional.

I heard a neurologist make a point that was very revealing about how the brain works --- that a memory in the brain does not work like a videotape, rather it's a story one tells oneself, over and over.

In the process of that reteling of course, things get embellished. And other parts get eliminated. Or merged with other stories.

I always thought of my oldest memories, like the day my sister was born, as more like "memories of memories".
Thank Pogo, I would always think that it worked like a videotape and that we remembered a memory maybe because at that moment something different would happen, feeling, scent, sensation ?
 
Oftentimes memories that are tied to strong emotions are the easiest to remember.
 
I wonder if sensory input plays a part.

I can clearly remember laying in a cradle or bassinet in my backyard under a fig tree with a brown Cocker Spaniel licking my face.

I also remember eating a bowl of serial while looking at the Sunday morning comics and hearing a man on the radio sobbing and trying to get out words that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.
 
I wonder if sensory input plays a part.

I can clearly remember laying in a cradle or bassinet in my backyard under a fig tree with a brown Cocker Spaniel licking my face.

I also remember eating a bowl of serial while looking at the Sunday morning comics and hearing a man on the radio sobbing and trying to get out words that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.
I can remember not being able to reach light switches.
 
Some of what memories we keep is intentional.

I heard a neurologist make a point that was very revealing about how the brain works --- that a memory in the brain does not work like a videotape, rather it's a story one tells oneself, over and over.

In the process of that reteling of course, things get embellished. And other parts get eliminated. Or merged with other stories.

I always thought of my oldest memories, like the day my sister was born, as more like "memories of memories".
Thank Pogo, I would always think that it worked like a videotape and that we remembered a memory maybe because at that moment something different would happen, feeling, scent, sensation ?

Yes certainly there are associations, some of the time. Something in the right brain -- a piece of music, a vision of a landscape, and so forth. These can trigger what the memory was, but I don't think there is always such an association.

I can remember vividly the voice of our high school principal on the building's public address system telling us that President Kennedy was dead. I remember where I was sitting, what the view outside the window was, what the sky looked like, how our teacher reacted, all of that. When something meaningful happens we go into a heightened awareness. Other times it's much more subtle, that the brain just happened to receive two different stimuli at the same time and desired to remember one of them, and the other 'hitched a ride'.

But yes, a story we tell ourselves, over and over until it becomes a belief. If we listen to ourselves carefully we can start to hear how the story changes over years. Then we start to have doubts about what really happened.
 
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I think a strong emotion to maybe something to do with memories, I remember that moment as if it was yesterday.
I was 19 years old, it was winter and I had my Dr. Martens boots and I was running in the snow and I was overflowing with energy afterwards I slipped on the ice for a long time with my earphones and my music .. I loved it, but this moment is engraved forever this day, I can not say the date but it's the only time I remember when I did it often
 
I think a strong emotion to maybe something to do with memories, I remember that moment as if it was yesterday.
I was 19 years old, it was winter and I had my Dr. Martens boots and I was running in the snow and I was overflowing with energy afterwards I slipped on the ice for a long time with my earphones and my music .. I loved it, but this moment is engraved forever this day, I can not say the date but it's the only time I remember when I did it often
Most people can remember where they were and what they were doing on 9/11 or the Kennedy assassination if they experienced those events.
 
Some things that happened externally to me are very vivid - the JFK assassination, the first moon walk, 9/11, several others. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

More personal things, like listening to the old Philco short wave radio in our living room, in the late 40's when I was three, are fuzzy, but do come back.
 
What ticks me off these days is when I can't remember if I paid the phone bill but I can remember the lyrics to Norwegian Wood.

:lol:

On the serious side when I remember scenes from my childhood I remember them in great detail. It's wonderful because it's like I'm reliving the episode all over again. I should add that now the memories of older days in my life are coming into mind as well. Sort of freaky but I love it.
 
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Some things that happened externally to me are very vivid - the JFK assassination, the first moon walk, 9/11, several others. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing.

More personal things, like listening to the old Philco short wave radio in our living room, in the late 40's when I was three, are fuzzy, but do come back.
I don’t know if I remember the first moon landing (in real time) because I was 3 1/2, but I do remember watching Walter C covering some of the moon launches. Probably the later ones. And of course the video of Neal Armstrong making his first step on the moon is a historical event that is replayed for everyone to remember.
 
Do you ever dream your memories?
That is one thing that makes memories unreliable, I know sometimes I will dream about the past and the dream is not quite the same as what actually happened. Over the years if the event is dreamed about enough, the details may be dreamed rather than actual. This is one reason eye witness testimony sucks, especially for events that happened long ago.
 
What ticks me off these days is when I can't remember if I paid the phone bill but I can remember the lyrics to Norwegian Wood.

:lol:

On the serious side when I remember scenes from my childhood I remember them in great detail. It's wonderful because it's like I'm reliving the episode all over again. I should add that now the memories of older days in my life are coming into mind as well. Sort of freaky but I love it.

What ticks me off is my inability to find the word I want when I'm involved in a dispute with the wife. :ack-1:
 
What ticks me off these days is when I can't remember if I paid the phone bill but I can remember the lyrics to Norwegian Wood.

:lol:
I .... once paid a bill
Or should I say
It once paid me

I got no receipt
Maybe I should
Or I'll need to burn wood
 
I ask a simple question but perhaps not so simple to answer.

Why are some memories so fresh in our memory and others erased forever?

A memory of little importance that dates from a long time is intact while a closer memory is erased.

What is the reason , the explanation ?
My first memory is of my baby sister being born.

I was 2 1/2 years old.

Seems like only yesterday.

I can remember it clear as day.
 
I ask a simple question but perhaps not so simple to answer.

Why are some memories so fresh in our memory and others erased forever?

A memory of little importance that dates from a long time is intact while a closer memory is erased.

What is the reason , the explanation ?
On the other side of the coin, I can only remember the names of about 50 of the 100 different women that I slept with.

:D
 

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