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.
I remember breastfeeding, learning to crawl and walk
No way.
Howwww.
My earliest memory was something… I think was when I was like 3, I remember seeing photos dated 2005… (probably still in some drawers somewhere) so I was visiting Hong Kong from Guangzhou…
I think we went there to vacation(?) + meet with relatives from abroad in the US
I really only remember
cable cars
the hotel room that you need a special card thing to access and turn on the electricity in the room (I think it must’ve been some rfid thing)
Double-deck buses
Trolleys(?)
That’s about it
I remember it kinda feel “western”? (I mean of course it felt western after 99 years of british rule lol)
I think I already knew how to say basic words in Cantonese at this point so I remember asking a question about the weird rfid hotel card thing…
But like… nah how the f do you remember breastfeeding and being a toddler?
I have zero memories of pre-speaking age of myself.
I guess having a language make it easier to form memories? Or maybe vice versa? Being able to form memories make it possible to retain a language? Idk.
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 remember breastfeeding, learning to crawl and walk, the intense frustration I felt while trying to communicate before I learned how to speak.
No way.
Howwww.
My earliest memory was something… I think was when I was like 3, I remember seeing photos dated 2005… (probably still in some drawers somewhere) so I was visiting Hong Kong from Guangzhou…
I think we went there to vacation(?) + meet with relatives from abroad in the US
I really only remember
That’s about it
I remember it kinda feel “western”? (I mean of course it felt western after 99 years of british rule lol)
I think I already knew how to say basic words in Cantonese at this point so I remember asking a question about the weird rfid hotel card thing…
But like… nah how the f do you remember breastfeeding and being a toddler?
I have zero memories of pre-speaking age of myself.
I guess having a language make it easier to form memories? Or maybe vice versa? Being able to form memories make it possible to retain a language? Idk.