I think it’s similar to that, but the analogy doesn’t quite hold. It’s a bit more like they’re there, on the hard drive, but they aren’t in the FAT. Our memor

I think it’s similar to that, but the analogy doesn’t quite hold. It’s a bit more like they’re there, on the hard drive, but they aren’t in the FAT. Our memories operate on association, be that by topic or by causal chain. Infant memories are laid down without those associations. I have some early conscious memories - I remember my second birthday, our neighbour walking on stilts in his garden, finding a snake in a gutter at the end of our garden - things which left an impression. I know these are memories as my parents have zero recall of any of these events, yet talking to my au pair of the time a few years ago, she, who was present, does remember the stilts, and the snake. Interestingly, since having an infant daughter of my own, I feel those primordial memories that I don’t consciously recall far more presently - I’ll cuddle her just so, or will tuck her into bed, or will make stupid noises while feeding her, and will have a moment of “she is the baby. I am the baby. She is the baby” with either just a feeling of familiarity or in some cases a brief glimpse of visual information. It’s an interesting topic - along with how “past life” memories form, as apparently about as soon as I could talk I was keen to lecture anyone who would listen on mongol siege warfare in the levant.