I do not remember my life and it's fine • Hacker News Board

Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine

#241

Post by pesus » Tue, Jun 10, 2025, 8:29 PM UTC

ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #220

pesus wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is legally a disability, and you can get accommodations in college for it. I'm glad it hasn't negatively affected your life, but that doesn't mean it doesn't affect others. Believing it isn't an issue won't magically make that true, and only prevents people from getting the help they need.

>you can get accommodations in college for it this isn't a real standard

This is a late response and I know you don't care about evidence and have an axe to grind, but to anyone who may read this later: disability legal regulations and standards are absolutely a standard. Denying this won't make it any less true, the same as denying climate change won't make it any less true.

Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine

#242

Post by kordlessagain » Mon, Jun 16, 2025, 5:03 PM UTC

GuinansEyebrows wrote: post #224

ahmeneeroe-v2 wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>When these things are vital things like feeding yourself Need data one this one. I don't believe anyone has starved because they didn't have the executive function to feed themselves.

well, that's a pretty dramatic take on what GP said. there's a world of difference between literally starving and being unable to break focus on something to feed yourself and maintain a healthy weight and ensure that you're getting all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs to operate beyond a minimal level (especially as you age). i've definitely skipped multiple meals before while caught up in something and it…

There is a difference between personal preference of taking a substance that changes focus by changing the way the brain works, and doing whatever work is required to use the brain to change itself. That's not to say taking a substance for all of one's life for focus is bad or good, or sustainable, nor is it to say that everyone has the ability or willpower to change the way their brain works.

Substances help in the short term, but they can't be the thing that "solves" the problem, no matter how it is presented (starving vs. good nutrition through attention to what one eats and when they eat). It can't be that a person can ONLY function with a substance dependence for mental phenomenon.

While mental health is a sensitive subject, I don't think it is a "protected" status given many humans suffer from bad mental health from time to time, or constantly, depending on their experience. We've all been in contact with some type of mental health issue with ourselves or others, and we should always approach it from a standpoint of empathy when dealing with others directly. Having empathy online is tricky, and usually involves just not saying anything as opposed to speaking what we think is the truth (for ourselves). Too many people fish for empathy online in my opinion, and real empathy is likely only delivered (well) in a person to person context. It is literally responding physically to another's emotions, as well as understanding why we should have empathy for their emotional output (and doing something besides crying with them in the moment). That is compassion.

In terms of my comment, it was based entirely on my protecting my children from being put on a drug that probably isn't good (or useful) for those of us that don't visualize, long term. There is ZERO evidence that taking amphetamines for long periods of time is good for you. Google lists this as one side effect of ADHD substances: "While some studies suggest positive effects on brain development, other research indicates potential negative impacts on the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain related to motivation and reward."

Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine

#243

Post by opan » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 8:36 PM UTC

adriand wrote: post #28

opan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the article, I think I can do what the author can't, but I also think he probably imagines what he lacks to be more clear/detailed than it is for people without the issue. I can recall specific events from many years ago from my perspective, but it's tidbits, and the info feels lossy. The question he struggled with about past challenges is difficult for most people, I'd guess, but I do not think his issues ar…

I suspect I'm close to the SDAM side on the autobiographical memory spectrum, since reading this my immediate thought was, wow. But you make a good point. So I have a question for you, which is, do you remember acquaintances from a few years ago who you haven't seen since? I have these jarring social experiences where I encounter people who readily recognize me, refer to me by name, etc., and I have no idea who they…

>do you remember acquaintances from a few years ago who you haven't seen since?

This is tricky, because the first couple people I think of are people who sort of "exist" in some sense online. Maybe I haven't seen them physically in 5-10 years, but I see their handle on a friends list or maybe I've messaged them in that time. I can remember things from back when I did see them in person, but perhaps their presence in some form since then has kept things more active. (Maybe they're more friends than acquaintances, admittedly it's hard for me to draw a line there without a clear definition)

I'm leaning toward "yes", though. I can remember old people who I fixed computers for once or twice and never really talked to again otherwise. They weren't related to me or anything, it was purely business, but I can remember things like them offering me a drink or asking certain questions or that they pronounced a word in an unusual way.

Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine

#244

Post by opan » Tue, Jun 17, 2025, 8:39 PM UTC

numeri wrote: post #24

opan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the article, I think I can do what the author can't, but I also think he probably imagines what he lacks to be more clear/detailed than it is for people without the issue. I can recall specific events from many years ago from my perspective, but it's tidbits, and the info feels lossy. The question he struggled with about past challenges is difficult for most people, I'd guess, but I do not think his issues ar…

I think you're assuming more people are like you than actually are. This is part of the classic debate around aphantasia – both sides assume the other side is speaking more metaphorically, while they're speaking literally. E.g., "Surely he doesn't mean he literally can't visualize things, he just means it's not as sharp for him." or "Surely they don't literally mean they can see it, they're just imagining the list of…

>I think you're assuming more people are like you than actually are.

What I'm trying to say is that from his perspective, how he imagines people with more "normal" memory recall things, might be a bit exaggerated. He doesn't know what he's missing exactly so he might imagine it to be better than it really is. I'm not trying to say that everyone else is like me or that he's like me. Like if he can't imagine an apple in his mind at all and he hears other people can, he may imagine it's as clear as staring at an apple in real life or a picture of an apple on a computer screen, while the reality is somewhere in the middle. I do believe his claims about himself, but his claims about me or people like me don't seem entirely accurate.