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I also believe I have several distinct memories from around 1 or 2, but it's not clear that they are real and not just confabulations. I probably have bigger ga

by dsego 2y ago

I also believe I have several distinct memories from around 1 or 2, but it's not clear that they are real and not just confabulations. I probably have bigger gaps in primary school, things faded away.

dijit 2y ago
Frustratingly, a lot of what we think are memories are in fact: us remembering remembering. Human memory is increasingly fallible with time because of this. It's like playing chinese whispers with our own recollection, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. It makes sense that you would remember distinct events, but the trouble here is that nearly all memory as you so eloquently described, is "just confabulations"- which feels wrong instinctively, until it's challenged scientifically.
- taurath 2y ago
  Some fact or visual memory is as that, but our memories are also made up of sensory sensations and emotional states, and combinations abound. In fact, a big part of what makes PTSD is a split off different aspects of a remembered event because it’s so difficult to process the whole experience. This takes place after a traumatic event, during attempts at memory consolidation. Also traumatic memory seems to be stored differently than day to day memory, which helps explain that triggers and flashbacks are valid and real (for traumatized ppl), while the confabulation effect can also exist. Though I’d note that confabulation can happen but that doesn’t mean it “overwrites” the old memory, or that confabulation is in any way more common than just remembering a part or a whole event.
- throwayaw2 2y ago
  I have some pretty intense trauma in my life that I can recall extremely vividly even though i have little memory of the weeks surrounding the event. Often when I don't even want to. Certain memories are true memories.
ben_w 2y ago
I have some from "shorter than a table" age (I can no longer rember even which year), which later turned out to have been dreams from before I knew the difference between them and reality.
alexjplant 2y ago
I remember a handful of insanely specific things from this age that I've since verified with my parents - I generally don't seem to misremember or fabricate memories. That being said there are a _lot_ of things that I require prompting via photo or video to remember and probably 90% of my life from that time is unrecoverable. I vividly recall random moments from family functions and some intense nightmares but the family dog, for instance, is a complete black hole. Weird stuff. Primary school is still knocking around but I think I (and many others) suppress it to retain their sanity in adulthood :-P

by dsego 2y ago

dijit 2y ago

Frustratingly, a lot of what we think are memories are in fact: us remembering remembering. Human memory is increasingly fallible with time because of this. It's like playing chinese whispers with our own recollection, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. It makes sense that you would remember distinct events, but the trouble here is that nearly all memory as you so eloquently described, is "just confabulations"- which feels wrong instinctively, until it's challenged scientifically.

taurath 2y ago
Some fact or visual memory is as that, but our memories are also made up of sensory sensations and emotional states, and combinations abound. In fact, a big part of what makes PTSD is a split off different aspects of a remembered event because it’s so difficult to process the whole experience. This takes place after a traumatic event, during attempts at memory consolidation. Also traumatic memory seems to be stored differently than day to day memory, which helps explain that triggers and flashbacks are valid and real (for traumatized ppl), while the confabulation effect can also exist. Though I’d note that confabulation can happen but that doesn’t mean it “overwrites” the old memory, or that confabulation is in any way more common than just remembering a part or a whole event.
throwayaw2 2y ago
I have some pretty intense trauma in my life that I can recall extremely vividly even though i have little memory of the weeks surrounding the event. Often when I don't even want to. Certain memories are true memories.

ben_w 2y ago

I have some from "shorter than a table" age (I can no longer rember even which year), which later turned out to have been dreams from before I knew the difference between them and reality.

alexjplant 2y ago

I remember a handful of insanely specific things from this age that I've since verified with my parents - I generally don't seem to misremember or fabricate memories. That being said there are a _lot_ of things that I require prompting via photo or video to remember and probably 90% of my life from that time is unrecoverable. I vividly recall random moments from family functions and some intense nightmares but the family dog, for instance, is a complete black hole. Weird stuff. Primary school is still knocking around but I think I (and many others) suppress it to retain their sanity in adulthood :-P