4 ms·

I wonder if anyone has researched whether it's actually good to remember everyday things. I can watch a movie or read a novel, enjoy the experience, and the ne

I wonder if anyone has researched whether it's actually good to remember everyday things. I can watch a movie or read a novel, enjoy the experience, and the next day not really remember much about it. Often I'll get half-way through a movie and start to get a sense of deja-vu. Of course I've seen it before, but can get an hour in before I realize. I still enjoy it though. Now, is this actually bad? I have no problem remembering what I actually need to remember to do novel research or to cope with the complexity of large programs. So it's not that I can't remember, but that I don't make any effort for things that don't matter. My feeling as I get old, is that it gets a little harder to learn new stuff because my head is already pretty full, but it's not too bad. But would it be worse if I actually remembered all those books and movies?

stormdennis 4y ago
I do the wordle and if you asked me ten minutes later what the word was, I haven't a clue.
mattmanser 4y ago
It's called hyperthymesia syndrome. This might interest you: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160125-the-blessing-and-curse-of-the-people-who-never-forget https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160125-the-blessing-and... A blessing and a curse is how I'd imagine it too. Great for some stuff, but this quote highlights the curse part of it: Viewing the past in high definition can also make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel same emotions – it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds – they are just a part of you,” he says.
mihaaly 4y ago
My conviction is that a selective memory is a defence mechanism against being overflown with he noise of everything. For being able to work/live with, rely on the important things, construct new concepts/thought out of those managable number of selected ones instead of every piece of sand it encounters. The real important things inherently become a backbone of our self without wanting it, actively choosing or dedicating (forcing?) it to become important. The rest fade. Of course the burden of the selective mind is the need to relearn things like me with names (among others). The certainly tens but perhaps hundreds of thousands of names I met in my life makes my brain forget all names (name of a particular person) I first meet in 10 seconds now. I just pay no attention without being aware of not paying attention, it is an automation. I need to use names several times, repeatedly to become a reliable filament of the inner network forming my consciousness and the representation of the world I live in. Those who are important and part of my life will unavoidably be imprinted and solidified in my memory, the rest without use dropping out for good. Old names fading into grey like the balls of memories in the movie Inside Out.

stormdennis 4y ago

I do the wordle and if you asked me ten minutes later what the word was, I haven't a clue.

mattmanser 4y ago

It's called hyperthymesia syndrome. This might interest you: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160125-the-blessing-and-curse-of-the-people-who-never-forget https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160125-the-blessing-and... A blessing and a curse is how I'd imagine it too. Great for some stuff, but this quote highlights the curse part of it: Viewing the past in high definition can also make it very difficult to get over pain and regret. “It can be very hard to forget embarrassing moments,” says Donohue. “You feel same emotions – it is just as raw, just as fresh… You can’t turn off that stream of memories, no matter how hard you try.” Veiseh agrees: “It is like having these open wounds – they are just a part of you,” he says.

mihaaly 4y ago

My conviction is that a selective memory is a defence mechanism against being overflown with he noise of everything. For being able to work/live with, rely on the important things, construct new concepts/thought out of those managable number of selected ones instead of every piece of sand it encounters. The real important things inherently become a backbone of our self without wanting it, actively choosing or dedicating (forcing?) it to become important. The rest fade. Of course the burden of the selective mind is the need to relearn things like me with names (among others). The certainly tens but perhaps hundreds of thousands of names I met in my life makes my brain forget all names (name of a particular person) I first meet in 10 seconds now. I just pay no attention without being aware of not paying attention, it is an automation. I need to use names several times, repeatedly to become a reliable filament of the inner network forming my consciousness and the representation of the world I live in. Those who are important and part of my life will unavoidably be imprinted and solidified in my memory, the rest without use dropping out for good. Old names fading into grey like the balls of memories in the movie Inside Out.