posted on Mar, 28 2016 @ 09:12 PM
The awesome thing about memory is how you can use recent memories to drill down to more distant ones.
For example -- I can remember being 4, living in an apartment complex in Seattle, and sitting in my dad's lap, in his little blue Honda, steering
while he pumped the gas and brake pedals. Before that, I remember we had two rabbits, and our neighbor tossed poisoned food into their cages because
he didn't like my parents. I remember clear as what I had for breakfast this morning, finding them dead in their cages when I was a week past 3 years
old. Before that I remember balancing myself next to our coffee table, and trying to walk from the edge of the table to a lazy-boy style chair a few
feet away. I remember that it was easier to reach the chair from the table if I walked really fast and caught myself on the chair before falling over
completely.
I don't remember much before that, at least consciously.
I do two things to keep my memory sharp: First -- I create memory warehouses, and stock them with interesting artifacts which I later associate with
information I wish to retain. In visualizing a particular warehouse I recall large chunks of data, such as the content of favorite books.
The other thing I do is make a mental note of what I have for breakfast each morning, and associating each of these sense memories with a date. When I
want to drill down, I simply summon the most recent sense memory of sage sausage patties and waffles (for example) and then step back (or forward)
through previous days until I find a particular date. Because each day begins with a strong sense memory, I can often recall details of other events,
conversations or experiences that are associated with a particular day, at least at a rudimentary level, going back dozens of years, since I began the
practice in 1987.
None of this has tangible value, but it's great for writing, and makes for fun party tricks.