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Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

bbc.com

11–20 of 77 posts

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#11
post #9

I read recently that our memories are us recalling the last time we remembered it. They did a study which showed those that intoduced errors in their memories later recalled them as facts the next time. So my thought is that childhood amnesia could be down to children living in the moment and simply don't spend time recalling past events. Only later do we consider events as being past, present and future.

They absolutely do though. I only see my nieces and nephews a few times a year, and they always remind me of things we did the last time I visited.

[deleted]

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#12
post #10
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no, i loath the "experts" rolled out by the bbc as experts. that memory is something we learn is not a new thing (technicallly the skill of forgetting, which is where autism comes from), the second post even pointed out synaptic pruning. its not just known to be a learnt skill, we know the exact biologic process by which it manifests itself. the "experts" are the ones building the ai that will take all your jobs. and…

You speak as if you know quite a bit about this subject. I'm curious, what makes you an expert rather than an "expert"?

i have been building such stuff for the last 20 years.

even had stuff stolen by darpa. which is why i dont share much now.

http://www.theborgmatrix.com

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#13

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

Things learnt that early simply dont have value later on, that's how I would see it from the body's perspective.

Episodic memory is not really learned, is it? There's a semantically confusing syllogism in there. If a memory is pondered often enough, there might not be much more to learn from, thus you stop thinking about it and as with muscles, it deteriorates if not used. But what you have deduced from that memory might have value. Eventually you might learn later on that episodic memory is a valuable thing to keep as much as possible, thus we reminisce. On the other hand, maybe early childhood is just so terrible that it needs to be suppressed.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#14

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

>If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2

That is news to me, but then again I find it hard to ask a 5 year old about anything.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#15
post #12
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You speak as if you know quite a bit about this subject. I'm curious, what makes you an expert rather than an "expert"?

i have been building such stuff for the last 20 years. even had stuff stolen by darpa. which is why i dont share much now. http://www.theborgmatrix.com

I should point out that your link doesn't work for me. I should also point out that it is unwise to claim absolute authority in science, especially the biological sciences.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#17

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

Things learnt that early simply dont have value later on, that's how I would see it from the body's perspective.

Even if you aren't able to recall useless events in your life, you still have memories of most of them with the appropriate cues. Tgat doesn't hold for early childhood.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#18
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i have been building such stuff for the last 20 years. even had stuff stolen by darpa. which is why i dont share much now. http://www.theborgmatrix.com

I should point out that your link doesn't work for me. I should also point out that it is unwise to claim absolute authority in science, especially the biological sciences.

Yeah I saw, rogue c&p in the "hide it from most of the internet" script.

It's an old site migrated from my first machinations back in the early 2000s.

And I make no claim to "absolutely authority".

But take your pick which "expert" you want to listen to.

The experts rolled out by the "love thee blue blooded leader appointed appointed by god" channel.

Or some random guy on the internet who likes downvotes and says he's been doing it so long it now pays for him to do this every other day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwYAv--inN0

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#19
I'm not an expert, but I have read few books about brain development. It's amazing that we can remember things from the childhood. Retained memories have likely result of multiple recall-rewrite cycles.

Human brains practically rebuild themselves few times during development. Neural migration stops when the child is born, but synaptic pruning, myelination, synaptogenesis, apoptosis continues years after the birth. Cortical white matter continues to increase until the child is 9-12 years old, grey matter development continues in phases. Superior temporal cortex is not mature until the child reaches adulthood 17-18 years. Our first memories are from brains that were very different.

This is why child neurologists are their own specialty among neurologists. Child brain and adult brain are different things.

Re: Why does it take so long for us to form our first memory?

#20

The thing I find most interesting about childhood amnesia is that that, despite this headline, it's not that we don't form early memories. We do form them, and then as we get older we forget them again. If you ask a 5-year-old child, they will accurately remember things that happened to them when they were 2. Then they gradually forget, and at 11, the early memories are completely lost. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

I have quite a few memories before 4, going back to 2 years of age, more than I can remember. I will say that one thing that is a little different for me was that we moved every year until I was 7 so that had helped me place things and maybe retain memories a little better for some reason.
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