Interesting that this was studied.

I'm not exceptional in any manner.

But I'm definitely in the SDAM category. I wonder what I'll actually see when, right before I die, my life is supposed to flash before my eyes.

A most timely and interesting subject, Sigfreund. And as always, very well presented. Timely to me as I age and notice some changes to my own memory.

Despite tests claiming that I have a quite high IQ, I find that my autobiographical memory is deficient in many regards. Offsetting this has been an ability to create novel solutions to problems directly personal to me. Furthermore throughout my life I have broached solutions to others for problems both individual and group that are first dismissed, but then later employed. I can only smile.

In my case, this solution ability seems to validate Brian Levine’s hypothesis.

Sadly in my case, I am not always able to weigh the validity of a first solution response. I require much more information than most people to evaluate and propose a solution. I would never have considered this a memory problem – a deficient autobiographical memory.

Thus I will have to think on it. You have enlightened me…

EasyFire

Psychologists have been studying memories for years. It is a compicated and complex subject. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy spends considerable time focussing on repressed memories and dreams. Everyone is somewhat unique in their ability to recall their past.

I have consulted with attorneys who just listened and did not take notes yet were able to recall pretty much everything you said. I have an eye doctor buddy who cannot remember names but he can tell what shirt you wore three weeks ago on a Tuesday. These are examples of auditory and visual memory which are two distinct things.

Some things vividly. Other aspects, not at all. Occasionally we go through digital photos for the past 15 years or so and there are photographed occasions I have zero recollection of. The funny thing is for some of them I remember the picture of the event, but not the event.


An example of something I feel I should recall but often don't is teachers I spent a year or more with. Half I can't recall whatsoever and half that I do recall, I don't remember their names.

When I was working, I rarely reflected on my life. Now, retired with plenty of time, I recall oodles of memories, smells & sights. When I look at old photos, memories can get intense. I remember damn near everything. I only go back to age 5, can’t bring up anything before age 5. That age stands out as remember the 1st day of kindergarten.

As I age,(72) now. The days, weeks, months & the last 12 years takes some doing to recall with clarity.
“old timers” might be setting in... YIKES!!

Memories aren't just life events and I think we do file away and block to some extent, even useful informational memories. Especially if we believe we can look up that "memory" or information as needed. I've had many "oh yeah I remember now" moments went doing mundane things like working on mechanical equipment, troubleshooting electronics, conducting household maintenance and repairs.

I have a reasonably good memory of my early life. I was born in 1944 and spent my summers on my grandparent’s farm in East Tennessee.

This was right at the end of a way of life that no longer exits. There were sheep, goats, cattle, chickens, and a pair of horses that were still used to pull farm equipment and for plowing. The mare was named ‘Nellie’. We were surrounded by other farms that were almost all owned by relatives. They produced practically everything that they consumed. We went into town every Saturday to visit and to buy what few staples that the farm didn’t supply. On Sunday, everybody got dressed up and went to church. My grandmother would pick flowers from her flower garden and take them.

I remember going with my grandfather to the mill with a couple of sacks of wheat. He would trade these to the miller for flour. This and a thousand other memories of shucking and shelling corn, putting hay away in the loft of the barn, suckering and cutting tobacco stalks to be speared on chestnut stakes and then stored in the tobacco barn for drying and aging. There was a cistern under the back porch with a bunch of cups linked together into a loop that would bring up rainwater when you turned a crank. My grandmother told me not to drink it but I thought it was yummy and drank when she wasn’t around. There was a spring house where milk in cans was kept cool until the local dairy came by for it. They had a smokehouse with hams, bacon, etc. There was an apple tree in the back yard that produced small and very tart apples. We would get salt from the smokehouse to sprinkle on them. My grandmother made the most wonderful apple dumplings out of them. They were best eaten warm with some Jersey cream on them.

The area is now a suburb of Knoxville. I wish I had realized at the time how precious and transient this experience was. I also wish there was a way to transfer these memories to my daughter and grandson, but there isn’t. They will vanish with me.

1. Jim - A bit earlier than me, but many of the same memories. I wouldn't trade growing up on a farm for anything.

2. Overall, I apparently suck at remembering my life. Mrs. PHPaul regularly comes up with memories from 30 or 40 years ago that I have absolutely no recollection of. A few, I SWEAR never happened. If true, they were significant enough that I feel sure I'd remember.

My memories are vivid, but have to be triggered first.

I have always proclaimed to have an amazing memory and can recall very fine details. This is a great skill at work, but when debating with the lady it sucks to know I am right, but shouldn’t press the topic. I guess in some cases, if you are right, you are still wrong.

quote:

I guess in some cases, if you are right, you are still wrong.

IMHO, when you're arguing with the lady and you're right and you both know it -- you'd best back off and apologize. Otherwise there will be no horizontal tangos in your immediate future...

quote:

The area is now a suburb of Knoxville

Which area? I lived in Knoxville for four years in early 70s. Worked in southern Appalachia in Scott County and Morgan County. In those days it was probably similar to the area around Knoxville from the 1940s. Bet you knew Cas Walker.

♫ "Pick up the morning paper when it hits the street, Cas Walker prices now they can't be beat."♫

That fucker would steal the nickels off of a dead mans eyes.

We were about 30 miles east of Knoxville, about halfway between Dandridge and White Pine.

Watermelons are Thumpin Good!

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
I am one of those people who can recall a lot of details from my life - as I perceived it.

Where I do recall saying or doing something I thought was funny, smart, intuitive, etc. doesn't mean I can recall if it was perceived by others in the same manner.

yes, some of us have a LOT of trouble remembering how others perceived our little witty moments;

And I don't believe many versions of what some of those onlookers is steadfast objective reality either.

Sometimes with old classmates/distant family members, the most we can agree upon is THAT some event happened at more-or-less the same time frame. WHAT occurred or worse yet WHY or WHAT the event meant, is harder to confirm.

My memory seems to be roughly the same as most people's. I remember the things one would expect to remember pretty well. I mean I don't remember what I had for lunch three months ago, but I remember trips, events, places I have lived, etc.

Once in a while my wife or a sibling will remember something I can't dredge up, but that isn't too often.

I have an above-average ability to remember technical details, and this was a great advantage in school and at work. My memories of my early life are pretty sketchy, though--a few select instances with little surrounding background. I do have a strong ability to find unusual, even innovative, solutions to problems at my jobs, and I've been very pleased this was so.

flashguy

Better than Brian Williams.

Glad to know I'm not alone. Oh well...

I don't have a strong recollection of early childhood. From 10 on I remember events and experiences pretty well, but not dates.

I'm always amazed by the people that remember dates. For example, every once in awhile someone will post that on this date so and so many years ago they stood on the footprints at Parris Island. Now I remember vividly standing on those same footprints, but I can't tell you the exact date. I even have to do some mental gymnastics to get to the year.