The power of our memory?

Question

How come I can still vividly remember something I did about 10 years ago and not remember what I did last week?

In other words, what are the factors that affect our memory capacity of remebrance? I know one could be experiencing something for the first time; no matter how long it's been, you will always remember it. Are they any others?

Pls I need serious answers.

Answer 1

Our memories work manually, not automatically. If you want to remember something, you have to actually put it in your memory - that is, register it by thinking about it. That's why sometimes if you place your keys somewhere you can't remember where later on - because you weren't concentrating. You have to actually put it in.

Answer 2

The more you actively remember something, the easier it is to remember it again. I remember an event that happened to me when I was two, because I have told that story so many times in the past, so the memory is reinforced. That is what revision before exams is all about.

Also, the more emotional clout the memory has, the more it sticks, because the memory has "hooks" into other parts of your consciousness. Most things we do on a day to day basis are not important enough for us to remember.

What I don't understand is why it is that unpleasant things seem to stick in the mind more than pleasant ones.

Answer 3

you probably know about short term memory and long term memory, if not look it up in an encyclopedia. sometimes things we have done many years ago are result of just how things have embedded in our brain. Since the brain can recorded things, depends on you awareness, the situation at that time. Like many people usually forget when they have an accident, like a car wreck, they remember driving but not the crash. It can be a protective mech. so a person would not be traumatized.

Answer 4

I agree with what you are asking. I can remember things from a decade ago that I remember clearly even though that event wasn't especially amazing or life-changing. It's weird because I have so many memories like this. The worst for me is when I meet someone and forget their names the next day and have to refer to them as "you" or something like that.

Answer 5

The long term memory is greater than the short term. As we age we lose some of the short term memory such as walking in to a room and wandering why you went in there. Ask any old person and they can vividly tell you about their childhood.

There are many factors that shorten the short term memory

Stress
Age
Illness
Drugs

The list could go on and on

What was I writing about?

Answer 6

do you mean you want to know about things like the olfactory senses (nerves)? this is the thing that lets you remember smells - like how chocolate chip cookies makes everything better or how comfort food IS comfort food. (i must be hungry).
i am 38 years old and remember my first bathing suit. i remember falling asleep on the elevator at home and no one could find me. i remember the groggy 'wake up' feeling and thinking everyone calling my name was in a dream. i remember phone conversations my mother had with friends when i was under 2 years old. i remember a conversation i had with my brother and what was going on around me at the time. when i told my mother about the conversation she said "you don't remember that. that was the day i brought you home from the hospital.....". i still remember that conversation to this day.

Answer 7

I think that anything remembered 10 years ago had some sort of impact on you. Really scared, happy, excited, etc. I think all of us don't remember boring, mundane things.(Like brushing your teeth last Thursday.)

Answer 8

yes, it happens with most of the people.
nothing to worry about it.
morning what we ate also cannot be remembered instantly sometimes.
it is all in the interest with which any act is done.
if we feel that it is most imp. thing then definitely we will remeber.
otherwise we tend to forget. but it will be registered in our mind.

Answer 9

Don't really understand it. Sometimes something will pop into your head that is years old. Think they are usually set off by triggers like smells or songs.

Answer 10

don't worry its just nature playing tricks