I consider myself a pretty well educated guy who keeps up with major news events. Like everyone else I clearly remember the space shuttle Challenger blowing up on takeoff. But for some really strange reason I did not remember Columbia burning up during re-entry.

Anyone else ever discover a huge hole in your memory.

So you forgot about it, or when told about it you have no recollection of it?

(10-29-2019, 02:59 PM)michaelsean Wrote: So you forgot about it, or when told about it you have no recollection of it?

I saw something about it on TV last night and was stunned to realize I have no recollection of it happening.

(10-29-2019, 04:02 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I saw something about it on TV last night and was stunned to realize I have no recollection of it happening.

Wow.    In your defense it wasn't the story Challenger was, but still pretty big.  I'll have to think if I've had that.

As we age, it's harder for our brains to reconnect what is stored. Like a hard drive, it can deteriorate overtime and become more difficult to pull up.

More emotional experiences are imprinted more clearly and easier to bring up. It's possible that you did not have as big of a reaction to Columbia as you did Challenger. A large portion of the population was watching the Challenger launch and the presence of the teacher made it more tragic to some as she was a civilian. The high stakes of the still on going Cold War and the importance of space added to it too.

(10-29-2019, 02:41 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I consider myself a pretty well educated guy who keeps up with major news events.  Like everyone else I clearly remember the space shuttle Challenger blowing up on takeoff.  But for some really strange reason I did not remember Columbia burning up during re-entry.

Anyone else ever discover a huge hole in your memory.

None that I can recall.









 

Yes, the Challenger exploding on takeoff was a much more earthshattering event and part of it had to do with how they hyped a schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe, blasting off in space. The Columbia disintegrating on re-entry, while also huge news happened sometime in the spring of 2002 or thereabouts. While also big, it took them about a half-hour to really decide on what happened and then they found bits of wreckage strewn over various parts of Texas over the next few days. Also, it happened at night without millions of poor schoolchildren to witness it in real time as happened with Challenger.

when I encounter a blank memory space I just start singing

I don't remember
I don't remember
I don't remember, I don't recall
I got no memory of anything at all
I don't remember, I don't recall
I got no memory of anything
Anything at all

(10-29-2019, 02:41 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I consider myself a pretty well educated guy who keeps up with major news events.  Like everyone else I clearly remember the space shuttle Challenger blowing up on takeoff.  But for some really strange reason I did not remember Columbia burning up during re-entry.

Anyone else ever discover a huge hole in your memory.

I've forgotten that I ever had a hole in my memory. It must have been there at some point, but plaster of Paris has solved the problem and I covered it up with hair. 
Now all is good and I never forget anything.. 
Wait..what was the subject here again ? 

(10-29-2019, 09:14 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: As we age, it's harder for our brains to reconnect what is stored. Like a hard drive, it can deteriorate overtime and become more difficult to pull up.

More emotional experiences are imprinted more clearly and easier to bring up. It's possible that you did not have as big of a reaction to Columbia as you did Challenger. A large portion of the population was watching the Challenger launch and the presence of the teacher made it more tragic to some as she was a civilian. The high stakes of the still on going Cold War and the importance of space added to it too.

True. And also, memories change over time. The first time you remember something is the most accurate. After that, your brain starts to change how you remember something based upon things that have happened to you since. It is really bizarre. But it is also part of the reason why our brains are so powerful compared to other animals and how we can compose abstract thoughts.

(10-31-2019, 07:06 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: True. And also, memories change over time. The first time you remember something is the most accurate. After that, your brain starts to change how you remember something based upon things that have happened to you since. It is really bizarre. But it is also part of the reason why our brains are so powerful compared to other animals and how we can compose abstract thoughts.

I remember being bigger. 

(10-31-2019, 07:33 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I remember being bigger. 

Sorry. I'm afraid your wife is going to have to help you with that.

Hopefully you all remember that you each promised to pay me $1000.

It really happened, and time to pay up!

(10-31-2019, 09:45 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: Hopefully you all remember that you each promised to pay me $1000.

It really happened, and time to pay up!

Sounds like me when I have to do collection calls on clients.

(10-31-2019, 07:06 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: True. And also, memories change over time. The first time you remember something is the most accurate. After that, your brain starts to change how you remember something based upon things that have happened to you since. It is really bizarre. But it is also part of the reason why our brains are so powerful compared to other animals and how we can compose abstract thoughts.

Yep, we forget about half of it within 5 days and then it eventually plateaus after a month or so. Like you said, every time we access it we're changing it by filling in gaps and then rewriting it. 

From there, we just lose track of how to access it, even though it's in there. 

(10-31-2019, 10:13 PM)BmorePat87 Wrote: Yep, we forget about half of it within 5 days and then it eventually plateaus after a month or so. Like you said, every time we access it we're changing it by filling in gaps and then rewriting it. 

From there, we just lose track of how to access it, even though it's in there. 

What can be really powerful is when a smell or a sound triggers a memory.

I was listening to te song "After the Love Is Gone" by Earth, Wind and Fire. I had not heard it in decades. Some of the chords hit home and just like instantly transported me back to 38 years ago at the high school dance. Very powerful.

My father, now 90, soon to be 91 has lost most of his ability to remember much of anything, but despite that he can still recite his prayers in French he learned as a boy from his father who died in 1958. He can still remember taking a whipping as a boy for stealing a dime from his mother's apron just as I can recall things from my childhood as if they happened an hour ago. I still remember falling from my crib as a kid seeing the hard concrete floor coming rapidly toward my face. Some things from our childhoods never leave us while trying to remember what you had for lunch ten minutes ago seems impossible. Snitching on my squeaky clean sister (mom's favorite neighborhood snitch at the time) and watching my mother beat her within an inch of her life with a maple switch for a half mile will stay with me forever. My sister will never forget it either and still blames me rather than mom.. LOL  I have no other memories of my sister ever getting spanked for anything other than that one moment and it was a doozy worth the label of being a snitch at the time.. What I remember the most about my sisters whipping is the absolute feeling of vindication that I wasn't the only kid in the family to ever break one of mom's rules.. I've never felt such delight watching my sister take a whipping as that day and yet I love my sister like no other in my family.. 

(10-31-2019, 11:43 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: What can be really powerful is when a smell or a sound triggers a memory.

I was listening to te song "After the Love Is Gone" by Earth, Wind and Fire. I had not heard it in decades. Some of the chords hit home and just like instantly transported me back to 38 years ago at the high school dance. Very powerful.

Something happened along the way
What used to be happy was sad
Something happened along the way
And yesterday was all we had

Love that song

(11-01-2019, 09:39 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Something happened along the way
What used to be happy was sad
Something happened along the way
And yesterday was all we had

Love that song

One of my favs is "Those Were The Days."
https://youtu.be/QptZ8tYZAkE
It usually conjures memories of the many taverns of my youth that no longer exist among many other memories.. 
A phrase coined in the 70's, "Nostalgia is a seductive liar."  
When you think about it most people in their 60s and 70s still think they should be able to throw a no hitter in the world series.. 

(11-01-2019, 09:39 AM)michaelsean Wrote: Something happened along the way
What used to be happy was sad
Something happened along the way
And yesterday was all we had

Love that song

Really powerful for me because I associate it with being a teenager at the dance with my girl, you know the hormone-thing. Especially the jazz fusion sax solo at the end, because you don't hear fusion much anymore in pop music. It was really particular to the late 70'/early 80's. Some of the music from Steely Dan or Billy Joel hits me the same way.

I've heard that one of the most powerful memory-joggers is the bubble gum smell from just-opened baseball card packs.