Keep your memories by recalling them frequently. Every time you remember something, you make a new copy in your brain. Recalling memories is like making a backup. I’m 45 and I still remember things from as early as 3. I remember the feeling of the orange shag carpet in the house I grew up on my toes. I remember going down a waterslide on my uncle’s lap and my cousin teaching me how to ride a bike. I remember the feeling of bass in my stomach when the marching band practiced across the street. Keep recalling your memories.

The way memory works, your brain constructs the memory based on stuff from the last time you thought about it, mixed with other random shit.

You’re never remembering “the” event. You’re retelling yourself a story like a game of telephone. The past is gone.

My 90yo grandmother tells me stories of her childhood all the time. Her earliest memories are of when she was around 2-3yo, and she absolutely hasn’t lost her sense of self at all. She’s sharp as a tack, honestly. I think it just really depends on the person

You pack a lot of memories in there. Your mind will compartmentalize them. The packing of time into memories is a strange sensation but I don’t think I’ve lost my sense of self. The memories are less vivid and feel further away as time passes. Your memories together with your thoughts form your sense of self, that’s hopefully not something you lose.

You start your life by forgetting your past. All the times you fell over, were hungry or overtired, or shat your pants as a baby or toddler. You don’t remember that time unless something happened that’s traumatizing in the extreme. Somewhere between that age and when you start school you start retaining memories. Not all of them but enough to reminisce. You’re growing still so every day is a new experience and not everything makes the cut. And then you age. Once you cross 40 you’ll notice a lot more that you cannot remember why you went to the garage but you can remember all the teachers from your elementary school days. Most of your classmates too but that guy’s name in Accounting who you talk to every other day is nowhere to be found. And when you reach an age where death is becoming likely every day, you reminisce and you remember lots of stuff from ages ago but not what you had for breakfast. Dementia fucks with you but they remember their moody teenage music tastes and react more to that than their own offspring.

Memory retention is not a linear thing.

I’m 39…there are some things that I remember vividly, some cloudy and most I just don’t know

I’m almost 50 and I remember a lot of my childhood. I remember riding in a car with my mother down the main street in town and not being able to read signs. So like 1983-84. I remember a bunch of other things from that far back. Sights, sounds, feelings. More the later you go. A lot of the late 80s and beyond.

Yes, yes and yes…

I don’t and I’m 30. Almost anything before the age of 7 and quite little between 7 and 14.

But AFAIK most people do remember quite some stuff from their childhood for the rest of their life. And forget some of course. I guess it varies.

it seems like they mostly remember the ‘vibe’ along with some hazy memories. kinda unrelated to OP but my grandparents started showing me AI generated pics/vids claming it’s “just like his childhood”…

I spent a lot of time with my grandfather in his final days, and he was hitting me with stories from when he was like 4-on. A lot of good memories and a lot of bad memories.

I’m 31 and remember a ton from my childhood. Which makes sense bc I have to remind myself that I’m a grown man and not a kid in social situations all the time. (like when I have to go to my child’s school and my brain flips where I’m overly respectful to the teachers and almost raise my hand to speak to them)

My wife had a rough childhood and can barely remember anything from those years due to mental blocks I guess.

Tldr idk it depends I guess

I don’t really but have always been bad at that. My wife on the other hand has countless memories I think from as early as 3-4. I mostly forget everything before grade 5 or 6.

I may or may not be Old, depending on your definition, but I’m 43 and I remember my childhood very well.

I asked my mom (75) about something a while back related to the late 50’s and while her memory is getting a bit “senior”, she had no problem answering my question.

For me I have only some memories from before I got my fist smartphone. From that my brain can recall much more when I look at old pics that from before that age.

I think kids born after say 2005 will have so many photos that they will remember much more than any of the previous generations.

Like usual with us humans and our fickle minds, YMMV.

There are many factors that can impact this, though I would clarify - you aren’t losing memories, they’re there, just harder to access. You aren’t losing your sense of self, it’s evolving - who you are as a person is constantly changing.

For me personally, as someone with aphantasia I’ve never really been in touch with my memories in the first place. I’ve been very much a “in the moment” person - despite that my past experiences do define me, even if I don’t know why.