The persistence of memory
So this may be a heavy subject for my first post in over 2 years, but meh.
I've been thinking lately a lot about memory - keeping it, losing it, building upon it. Specifics of recall that vary from person to person. Why do people remember what they do? What makes some one person be able to remember more than another? Do these people have a better system for storing memories, a more orderly mind, per se? Is it hard-wired into the programming of their brains to be able to store, categorize and easily retrieve this information?
Although I think I'd stop short of calling it photographic or eidetic memory, I've actually frightened people with my ability to remember names, dates, places, faces, procedures, details, situations, etc. They think it a stalkerish obsession. It's not that I try; it's just that the information lingers there still long after it's been wiped from other people's slates. It's gotten to the point where I will feign ignorance in social situations just so that I don't have to see that look of fear in someone else's eyes when I bring up meeting them, a conversation we had, an outfit worn, a place belonging to a vignette...
I know that people tend to remember more of what they are passionate about. Could the above perception be, in actuality, a fact? Is a superior memory *obsession* on a sub-conscious level?
On a side note - about 2 years ago they built a Hustler (as in the magazine) store on the corner of Broadway and McClintock. It was a Hustler store for about 8 months and then went out of business. It has stood empty since then. I drove past it last Saturday and it's now been turned into ... a preschool. I don't know what to think about that.
I've been thinking lately a lot about memory - keeping it, losing it, building upon it. Specifics of recall that vary from person to person. Why do people remember what they do? What makes some one person be able to remember more than another? Do these people have a better system for storing memories, a more orderly mind, per se? Is it hard-wired into the programming of their brains to be able to store, categorize and easily retrieve this information?
Although I think I'd stop short of calling it photographic or eidetic memory, I've actually frightened people with my ability to remember names, dates, places, faces, procedures, details, situations, etc. They think it a stalkerish obsession. It's not that I try; it's just that the information lingers there still long after it's been wiped from other people's slates. It's gotten to the point where I will feign ignorance in social situations just so that I don't have to see that look of fear in someone else's eyes when I bring up meeting them, a conversation we had, an outfit worn, a place belonging to a vignette...
I know that people tend to remember more of what they are passionate about. Could the above perception be, in actuality, a fact? Is a superior memory *obsession* on a sub-conscious level?
On a side note - about 2 years ago they built a Hustler (as in the magazine) store on the corner of Broadway and McClintock. It was a Hustler store for about 8 months and then went out of business. It has stood empty since then. I drove past it last Saturday and it's now been turned into ... a preschool. I don't know what to think about that.