I do not remember my life and it's fine
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I do not remember my life and it's fine
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Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#2> "Write about a time during your university studies in which you faced a difficult problem, and what you did to overcome it."
I assume these are difficult for anyone who hasn't prepared for them.
I've always attributed this to the fact that we usually never categorize/conceptualize events in these terms in the first place.
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#3Same
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#4I can create images with ease in my mind. It's very useful overall but I don't think it's particularly helpful for preserving memories.
It's all a grayish blur with a tint of sun and green here and there and there are memories that I can recall almost as if I'm there, but this sentiment that big chunks of my life is totally lost I think is the same.
I've also come to terms with it. I write down once and again on my journal. I try to crowdsource memories from friends. But what ultimately makes this ok for me is the prospect of creating new memories and the faith that the crucial lessons from past experiences are embedded in me. And if not it's always an opportunity to relearn everything with more attention.
It's tiring but it can be very rewarding.
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#5Wow this resonates so much with me. This is so similar to my own life experience.
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#6My experience is similar to the SDAM described in the post. Indeed factual information, or things that are linked to locations are easy to access, yet more arbitrary information like "That one restaurant is named Fleep Burger" or "That person I met a while ago is named Bert" completely escape me.
I do feel like it's a major disadvantage. I often have to act the part when people remenisce about important shared experiences that I was involved with.
Luckily it does tend to only come rushing back when they tell me "Ah yes, it was in the mountain range with the red cabin", but that's usually past the point where I've already made a fool of myself
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#7I can create images with ease in my mind. It's very useful overall but I don't think it's particularly helpful for preserving memories. It's all a grayish blur with a tint of sun and green here and there and there are memories that I can recall almost as if I'm there, but this sentiment that big chunks of my life is totally lost I think is the same. I've also come to terms with it. I write down once and again on my j…
Same for me. I can visualize fine, but the author’s description of their memory, or lack thereof, is exactly what I experience. The thing about spatial memory especially. I could draw a decent floor plan of every place I’ve lived since the age of about 4. Some of those places I’d struggle to tell you about any concrete events I experienced there.
It isn’t something I’ve thought about too much. I’ve noticed that other people seem to remember events better, but it didn’t seem too remarkable. But the author’s presentation of this as anomalous really reframes it.
They do say that only half of people who have this also have aphantasia, so we’d expect plenty of people without aphantasia too.
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#8Same
Same.
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#9I'm certain I got aphantasia, but while I don't "see" my memories, I have a very decent recollection of events in my life. Both my mom and my sister have said they were surprised at how well I recall things from my past.
It's more like I "feel" I'm there though, and I know who was there, what items and such. I'm in my mid 40s, and could easily talk for several hours about when I was 4-6, for example, recalling events from that time.
Of course some are a bit more fuzzy than others, but most memories capture the salient points.
The weird thing is that if I see a name of someone I know, I don't picture them in my head, but if I see a face I've seen before, even briefly, I usually always recognize them. I'm terrible with names though.
Re: I do not remember my life and it's fine
#10This is exactly what I experience, and for me, this is a huge issue when it comes to 'selling myself', whether it is in an interview, or writing a self-assessment for a review.
And just like the author, I couldn't answer questions about hard problems that I've solved, until someone pointed out a moment where I did something they would call an achievements.
Now, at that moment I have the right references. It is still hard to talk about it as an achievement, but at least the recollection is there.
And just like the author, I have an excellent spatial memory, remembering roads and direction, and the ability to use that to recall other details.
I wonder how much of this is related with having ADHD, which often makes things feel like you're merely a spectator in your own mind. While I was never hungry as a child, and had access to a good education, the situation with between my parents had a lasting impact on me.