Grackle trapped in Houston Hobby, far out of my reach
Recent report of a woman who remembers everything1. Every detail of her life for every day, every hour, every minute. Sound like a useful trick? It’s also extremely unpleasant, apparently:
“But I also recall every bad decision, insult and excruciating embarrassment. Over the years it has eaten me up. It has kind of paralysed me.”
“Most have called it a gift. But I call it a burden. I run my entire life through my head every day and it drives me crazy!”
A few individuals with similar conditions have been studied through the decades (e.g., the Soviet neuroscientist Aleksandr Luria’s patient “S“, detailed in The Mind of a Mnemonist), and they generally find ways to use their memory powers for some kind of benefit. But they also tend to report unpleasant side effects, one of which is an inability to “filter” memories. This is Not a Good Thing.
Our long-term memory systems are massively self-organizing, and reducing the probability of recall for certain items is a key part of the organizational strategy. In other words, forgetting is very important. Also, apparently, it makes you happier.
Perhaps I’ll get started on some forgetting, right now. There are some past incidents I would dearly love to become less aware of.
- Well, since she was 14, anyway [↩]
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