
An Infinite Loop in the Brain - nreece
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,591972,00.html
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tdavis
Wow. If there were ever a person my opposite with regard to memory, it would
be this woman. I can't recall what I had for dinner the day before yesterday
(just ate left over pizza from last night so I'm not sure if that's cheating)
and over the entirety of the rest of my life I probably only have about 20
memories I can recall with any accuracy, all of which are incredibly vague and
almost entirely without a sense of time other than placing them "when I was
younger" or "within the past 5 years."

If something happened in the past few years I can usually answer "yes" to the
question, "Do you remember that time when...?" Although I'd be hard pressed to
provide any details outside of those given to me and even providing the year
it happened can get sketchy. Oh, and I'm left-handed, so either there's no
correlation there or I'm an anomaly. I'm with her, though, it's a blessing and
a curse either way.

Interestingly, I've also found the mirrored effect with regard to emotion;
even if I can recall a traumatic event that happened I never actually feel the
emotions associated with it. I just sort of recall the memory as if I were an
indifferent bystander watching it unfold.

At least I can remember the important stuff, like programming languages ;)

~~~
mechanical_fish
I've got a hint of your problem, particularly when it comes to remembering the
dates of events. I remember people pretty well, and I remember things that
happened, but I have a real trouble with timing and sequence, even for things
that only happened six months ago. The advent of email archives and iCal has
been quite useful!

 _even if I can recall a traumatic event that happened I never actually feel
the emotions associated with it._

As the article suggests, this is an understandable correlation. Emotionally-
colored events are easier to remember. If you don't tend to have emotional
color to your memories, that might make them less likely to stick around.

Honestly, I'm kind of happy to be leaning toward the forgetful side. Losing
your memory can occasionally be traumatic, but compared to being constantly
tortured by memories that won't go away...

~~~
tdavis
Yeah, it sucks not being able to remember much from my childhood, but it's
quite convenient to essentially be reborn every few years. The timing thing
can become an issue...

Mom: "Well hello, stranger!" Me: "Come on, I just called you guys last week!"
Mom: "That was 3 months ago, sweetie."

 _DAMN!_

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ekpyrotic
[new member]

I read a wonderful article about Price in National Geographic sometime last
year. The most important feature of the NT article, which is overlooked here,
is why Price's 'personal' memory is faultless while her memory, in general, is
average.

One psychologist suggested it was because Price had an intimate and
unrelentingly interest in herself, as her extensive diaries suggest. So, if
you enthusiastically submerge yourself in an area of study memories come.

I think there's an important lesson here: above all else love what you do.

~~~
mechanical_fish
Of course, if I were compelled to remember every single event of my life in
perfect detail I'd probably get really interested in myself, too. My own past
would be everywhere. I'd never really be able to escape it. It would probably
be hard to focus on much else.

So, as the title suggests, there's a feedback loop here.

I really feel for this woman -- this is a terrible condition. Perhaps the fact
that she isn't completely crippled by PTSD is a tribute to her skill at self-
analysis. It may be that she has had to become a conscious expert on herself
just to be able to talk herself through the fear.

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dilanj
For the life of me, I can't remember people.

Fuck.

------
gojomo
ObBorges:

"Funes, The Memorious"

<http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/borges.htm>

