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Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

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Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#31

Post by monero-xmr »

psyclobe wrote: post #5

I remember the dumbest things from eons ago… In a drivers ed meeting.. teacher talking about stop lights, he mentions the cross walk signs and said “Well get to those soon..”. But he never did. I think about this way too much.

I also remember drivers ed. It was this enormous class of like 90 people over February break packed into the tightest room you can imagine. I sat in the same spot near the back every day. The girl in front of me also sat in the same spot every day, in front of me. She was extremely attractive and she wore a thong every day that stuck out of her low-rise jeans.

It drove me crazy. Absolutely insane. Every day, trapped in this stuffy room, with this insanely hot girl that drove me crazy. I couldn’t think.

On the last day, I asked if she wanted to go to the arcade or movies sometime. I had to take my shot. She said “No” with no emotion or any thinking really.

That is my overwhelming memory of drivers ed. The sexual frustration of my 16 year old body followed by embarrassment and failure.

The driver’s license was great though

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#33

Post by antiquark »

I think to remember something, you have to replay it in your mind from time to time. The more you do that, the more you remember. (Reminiscing is probably the right word).

I guess differentiator between the "style" of memories is your personality and what you dwell on.

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#34

Post by sharkweek »

psyclobe wrote: post #5

I remember the dumbest things from eons ago… In a drivers ed meeting.. teacher talking about stop lights, he mentions the cross walk signs and said “Well get to those soon..”. But he never did. I think about this way too much.

It’s been what… 15-20 years since the ads ran but…

“I HAVE A STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT BUT I NEED CASH NOW!!

CALL JG WENTWORTH, 877-CASH-NOW!!”

It pops into my head at least once a month, and it sits for 1-3 days on repeat in my brain. I swear it was some MK-Ultra level psyops level writing, whoever came up with those commercials.

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#35

Post by _DeadFred_ »

I could never remember things/events/past times. I thought it was just how I worked.

When my life fell apart and I needed strength, I remembered so many moments. All those moments with my kids I was afraid/thought I forgot. When my mom got sick/was passing I remembered so many moments with her to remind her of to make her feel special/like she would be remembered. I think we just don't really care most of the time so don't flex that muscle so we don't realize how much we remember.

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#36

Post by squigz »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #12
jonahx wrote: post #8

There's an arbitrariness, a mundaneness to some indelible memories that defies this explanation. Or any explanation like this. It feels partly true. But there's got to be more, in my experience.

When I was six, I was standing in the middle of my bedroom, nothing particularly interesting was happening, and I said to myself " I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life". And I did.

Well you can't say that for certain, yet...

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#37

Post by AstroNutt »

deadbabe wrote: post #18

There’s things I wish I didn’t remember. Years of abuse.

This is me. There are so many things I don't remember about my childhood. My brother was lucky and lived with my grandparents for many years. I was stuck in hell with my physically/verbally abusive father and my pill head mother trying to OD about once a year.

It bothers me when he brings events up that he remembers clearly and swears I was there...family get together and birthdays. But I have zero recollection. I only remember the bad things.

I'm in my early 50's and just now beginning to enjoy life and feeling happiness for the first time in my life. I met a great woman that is loving, caring, great cook and has a 160 acre farm with Bortle 3.9 night skies. I have a good reason to drag out my heavy ass 10" telescope out now.

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#38

Post by jandrewrogers »

rdtsc wrote: post #3

> Memory isn’t just a passive recording device: our brains decide what matters, and emotional events can reach back in time to stabilize fragile memories So they are saying … attention is all you need? :-) If it’s surprising or shocking enough you’ll pay very close attention to it and remember it. Also smells have a very strong recall factor. You smell the same unique smell and it immediately takes you back to the ti…

As a very young child, I grew up in the remote hill country of the Pacific Northwest. Thirty years later, I moved to Seattle and decided to go hiking in the Cascades. The smell of those mountains immediately unleashed memories I didn’t know I had. It was really unexpected how much memory was keyed to that smell. Also, that smell induced a strange feeling like I was supposed to be there as if it was my native environment, and I hadn’t lived in the region for decades.

I am an avid outdoorsman. One thing I have realized is that every wilderness locale has a distinct natural smell. It isn’t just the plants but also the minerals, soil, and bacteria that live in that environment. There are vast regions of the US where I can probably identify the locale with some degree of fidelity by the smell. It is a bit like how an expert sommelier can identify wines. Civilization is more hit and miss but wilderness is almost fingerprinted by its smell.

Humans are clearly capable of sensing it and imprinting based on it. We don’t think about it much but it is there.

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#39

Post by rixed »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #12
jonahx wrote: post #8

There's an arbitrariness, a mundaneness to some indelible memories that defies this explanation. Or any explanation like this. It feels partly true. But there's got to be more, in my experience.

When I was six, I was standing in the middle of my bedroom, nothing particularly interesting was happening, and I said to myself " I'm going to remember this moment for the rest of my life". And I did.

What I find fascinating with those is that there is no way to tell if it's a real memory or not.

Re: Why do we remember some life moments but not others?

#40

Post by snicky »

antiquark wrote: post #33

I think to remember something, you have to replay it in your mind from time to time. The more you do that, the more you remember. (Reminiscing is probably the right word). I guess differentiator between the "style" of memories is your personality and what you dwell on.

It's also scientifically proven that every time you recall a memory you change it. In other words - your further experience can affect the memory of past events.
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