Remembrance of Things Past, Present, and Future

[flwyd]

A realization this evening:
I am much better at remembering that than I am at remembering to.

I have always had a fantastic memory for facts I read in a book or learned in class, events I was involved in, or things people said. But tell me to do a dozen things and I'll probably forget that I was going to seven of them. Then, over a few weeks, I'll remember five of them one at a time and wonder if it's still important.

Comments

[mirumototsubasa.livejournal.com]

Speaking of things remembered. I don't know if you follow such things on the interwebs, but today it was announced that Fantasy Flight Games has bought Legend of the Five Rings from AEG. So L5R will be gone until Gencon 2017, at which point it becomes an LCG.

[slyviolet.livejournal.com]

That's a really interesting distinction, and one that has me thinking about the nature of memory storage with regard to experiential learning vs. what I can only think to call "rote memorization" right now -- the experiential learning of remember that versus the memorization of remember to.

In a brain meandering way, it also makes me think about the nature of dementia and other brain disorders, which first erode the remember to and then start digging into recent remember that, leaving long-term memories of experiences intact for much longer. Longer, even, than language availability, it seemed, as showing photos of family members to residents at the dementia care facility would still elicit an emotional response in facial gesture or body language when speech was no longer accessible.

Did I ever tell you about the gentleman who would come and take me for walks with him, bringing me to a couch and making sure I was seated first before he would join me and gently hold my hand? His language use had eroded to only taboo words, so when he was frustrated he would swear a blue streak, but was otherwise completely without language. But he clearly was having a memory of escorting someone and treating them with great respect and affection most of the rest of the time.

Ramble ramble.