3 ms·

The reverse of this is "severely deficient autobiographical memory", which has been in the news recently as well (and I think discussed on HN too). I think it'

by schoen 3y ago

The reverse of this is "severely deficient autobiographical memory", which has been in the news recently as well (and I think discussed on HN too). I think it's interesting that I consider myself to have a good memory but it is by far best at verbal associations (e.g. facts about a specific topic, object, word, or concept). The autobiographical part feels quite weak for me: I often find it hard to remember experiences in my life "by theme" (e.g. "think of a time when you felt X", "think of a time when you did Y very well or poorly"), and I very often don't remember what year a particular thing happened, or who was present with me on a particular occasion, or what I have or haven't done before with a particular friend or family member. I certainly have many vivid memories from my life, but they don't seem to be indexed that well by date, topic, or person. I've been lucky enough to travel frequently, but I feel like I would be unable to answer questions like "how many times have you been to country X?" or "in what year did you first/last visit country Y?". (But I would probably be able to draw a decent map of specific places I've been, on various scales, and remember specific restaurants, train stations, landmarks, foreign language vocabulary, impressions of history and culture of various countries, etc. -- just not necessarily things like "when did you go there?". For example, my nephew recently asked me my impressions of Singapore, and I wrote him a six-page letter in reply with tons of particulars about all sorts of aspects of life/culture/politics/geography of Singapore, but I was unable to remember what years my trips there took place.) Anyway, all this reminds me that "having a good memory" is definitely not just one thing!

progman32 3y ago
My experience is similar. I feel like I experience past events more as modifications to my world view rather than a log of moments. I like it, to be honest. I don't need to know the exact details. The only time it gets me in trouble is people sometimes equate remembering an event as somehow "caring" about that event. I forget details fast. Sometimes people interpret that as not being interested in the people I met or the significance of the event. I'm always glad when folks of less common memory models share their experiences, I think it helps people understand that there's so many ways to experience life and consciousness.
- 7thaccount 3y ago
  Memory is weird. I was once on a street in maybe 2005 with my mother when a song from the 90s came on the radio. I was thinking that the last time I had heard the song we were at the same red light, but something like 10 years prior. My mom then said, "I think we were in the same spot like 10 years ago the last time I heard this song". It was a very bizarre moment as the song wasn't important to us or anything like that which should have made it memorable.
- robertlagrant 3y ago
  > I feel like I experience past events more as modifications to my world view rather than a log of moments That's interesting - I'm similar. I think of it in terms of remembering conclusions, rather than the reasons for the conclusions. Which can make it difficult to explain my reasoning sometimes - I tend to only remember the axioms/assumptions, and the conclusions, and have to try and recreate the intermediate steps every time.
  - schoen 3y ago
    Heh, in deduction systems there is something called proof erasure, I believe asserting that any two proofs of the same proposition are equal. Maybe your mind's inference is working on something like a proof erasure principle? :-)
    - robertlagrant 3y ago
      Well, that sounds good! I was previously riding high on coming out of Mayers-Briggs with a personality type that sounds like some sort of all-knowing robot god. Proof erasure principle sounds like an excellent followup (-:
FusionX 3y ago
I've often felt the same, although I've been unable to describe it as well as you have. My memories feel fuzzy and non-discrete, like there are no threads to pick at. This is one of the reasons, I often struggle at such improptu questions as well, and find it hard to communicate what I feel. It is a relief to hear that I'm not alone in experiencing this. Lately, I've been realising that it might be because I'm neurodivergent (as to the exact pathology, I can only guess it's in the spectrum of ADHD). It'd probably explain a lot of things in my life.
polytely 3y ago
Great write-up, This matches my experience exactly, but I've never been able to put it into words this well. The different ways in which people brains work differently from each other is so interesting to me. feels like there is a set of stable configuration you can run in there to get to a functional brain.

by schoen 3y ago

progman32 3y ago

My experience is similar. I feel like I experience past events more as modifications to my world view rather than a log of moments. I like it, to be honest. I don't need to know the exact details. The only time it gets me in trouble is people sometimes equate remembering an event as somehow "caring" about that event. I forget details fast. Sometimes people interpret that as not being interested in the people I met or the significance of the event. I'm always glad when folks of less common memory models share their experiences, I think it helps people understand that there's so many ways to experience life and consciousness.

7thaccount 3y ago
Memory is weird. I was once on a street in maybe 2005 with my mother when a song from the 90s came on the radio. I was thinking that the last time I had heard the song we were at the same red light, but something like 10 years prior. My mom then said, "I think we were in the same spot like 10 years ago the last time I heard this song". It was a very bizarre moment as the song wasn't important to us or anything like that which should have made it memorable.
robertlagrant 3y ago
> I feel like I experience past events more as modifications to my world view rather than a log of moments That's interesting - I'm similar. I think of it in terms of remembering conclusions, rather than the reasons for the conclusions. Which can make it difficult to explain my reasoning sometimes - I tend to only remember the axioms/assumptions, and the conclusions, and have to try and recreate the intermediate steps every time.
- schoen 3y ago
  Heh, in deduction systems there is something called proof erasure, I believe asserting that any two proofs of the same proposition are equal. Maybe your mind's inference is working on something like a proof erasure principle? :-)
  - robertlagrant 3y ago
    Well, that sounds good! I was previously riding high on coming out of Mayers-Briggs with a personality type that sounds like some sort of all-knowing robot god. Proof erasure principle sounds like an excellent followup (-:

FusionX 3y ago

I've often felt the same, although I've been unable to describe it as well as you have. My memories feel fuzzy and non-discrete, like there are no threads to pick at. This is one of the reasons, I often struggle at such improptu questions as well, and find it hard to communicate what I feel. It is a relief to hear that I'm not alone in experiencing this. Lately, I've been realising that it might be because I'm neurodivergent (as to the exact pathology, I can only guess it's in the spectrum of ADHD). It'd probably explain a lot of things in my life.

polytely 3y ago

Great write-up, This matches my experience exactly, but I've never been able to put it into words this well. The different ways in which people brains work differently from each other is so interesting to me. feels like there is a set of stable configuration you can run in there to get to a functional brain.