[ExI] Superior Autobiographical Memory

spike spike66 at att.net
Sun Jun 26 22:42:40 UTC 2011


 

 

 

>.I certainly wouldn't want perfect recall of every sordid detail of my
life: every wound, every trauma, every betrayal, every abuse, every
heartbreak, every loss, every pang of unrequited love, every foiled
ambition, every humilation, every petty embarassment? No thank you. I prefer
my selective memory that allows me to remember what I want to remember and
forget what I don't. Are you sure you would want the spectral slings and
arrows of past fortunes impinging upon the orbits of your present mind?
Stuart LaForge 

 

 

 

Well said Stuart.  In my efforts to write about my years at Lockheed, I have
persistently run into a problem of sorts: my memories or the past,
especially the distant ones, are more pleasant than they really were at the
time.  The stories about what happened turn out to be happier, funnier, less
boring, less frustrating, more optimistic than it really was when I was
recording the memories at the time.  Perhaps we unconsciously suppress
negative memories and constantly refresh and enjoy anew the pleasant ones.
We see our past through a brightly colored lens.  If we didn't have that
mechanism, perhaps we would go nuts, or become bitter angry people.

 

spike

 

 

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