Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: neilep on 16/07/2005 04:21:49
-
Hi All,
This may have been brought up before, but I can't remember !! (groan) but I'll ask it anyway,
Why can't we remember being born ?..is it because that as new born infants, we just can not comprehend the outside world and therefore can not create memories because it's all nonsense ?....and when I say outside world, I don't mean outside in the garden , I mean outside ourselves ! beyond our skin..comprendez ?
In addition to your wonderful comments, please state how old you were in your earliest memory ...with me ?...I honestly think its 4 or 5....is this comparable to your earliest memory ?
Thanks....(Hey !!..don't forget to comment!!)
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)
-
i was 3 im now 40 so not bad going .
i remember getting a smack from my dad for turning over and sitting on the small
waste paper bin in my living room
-
I remember my third Birthday. I got a big plastic CPR type train with a cattle bumber on the front of it.
Life was perfect then!
"Gentlemen you can't fight in here, this is the war room!"
-
I have two memories from age two. I know I was two because they are both from the farm and we left the farm when I was still two.
The first, I have a basket of eggs (I see myself, so I am narratizing) and I am running to my father (as if he just got home from work) when I fall. I suspect I thought I'd be in trouble. My parents have no memory of this incident, but the timing is right, eggs are usually gathered in the late afternoon or early evening and I did gather eggs.
The second, I am lying in bed, there is a huge full moon shining through the window, and a big bird is flying against the window screen. I was deathly afraid of the neighbors guineas. If you know guineas, you know that they will attack a small child. My mother never could accept that the bird in the window was a guinea. It probably wasn't, but to my mind the only bird that would be trying to get me was a guinea. "The guineas they try to get me." I suspect that the light of the early night full moon seemed to illuminate a path for the birds flight, ended by the window screen in its path. My father says my bedroom window faced east.
I am fifty now, and keep both chickens for eggs and guineas just for the fun of it (they eat a lot of bugs and warn of unwanted visitors, including hawks and fox).
-
I remember the layout of the bus we lived in while my parents built our home. I was just turned two.
-
Gosh...everyone seems to be able to recall memories farther back than myself !!..Perhaps I was born as a two year old !!!...thanks Peeps, it's interesteing to know and hear of your earliest memories.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)
-
No, m'dear, that was denial. Two years of, "Let me back inside!"
-
I remember being about 3 years old and running like crazy when I saw an airplane at dusk. I was afraid of anything that flew.
I learned in psychology that most people do not have really vivid memories until about third grade. I have some (like above), but they are not really vivid.
I don't recall why. I'm more intersted in why I keep forgetting and why I don't remember so many things, but remember what I was wearing 30 years ago in some instances.
-
Hmmm...I have a vivid memory from before third grade--it's also one of my earliest. My absolute earliest memory is of my mother changing my diaper--I won't go into that one any further.[:)]
My earliest vivid memory is of playing in our front yard, and suddenly realizing how very far away I was from the door. I was afraid to walk back to the door because of all these brown things (dead leaves, I think), so I stood there and screamed until my sister came out and carried me back in. I do remember the outfit I was wearing, and I have seen pictures of myself in that outfit--I was about 12-18 months old.
-
I remember a time when I was in a crib. I had to have been between 2 and 3. I used to leave the door open with the hall light on, when I went to bed. One night the breeze blew the door closed. I rocked my crib over to the door to open it.
-
i remember when i first went to kindy...was terrified!i even remember what colours my teacher had on!
-
I remember stuff from when I was crawling around (I was late to walk though). One memory in particular I can remember seeing our old cat and thinking of the concept of friend, I soon unlearnt that concept when it scratched me when I cornered it [:)]. I remember a lot of foreign holidays too, and since we stopped going on holiday abroad as soon as I started school those are going a fair way back, some around 2/3... lol as someone mentioned before it was a memory of collecting eggs, with a random Greek woman.... my parents hadn't noticed I’d wandered to the back of the taverna... They were worried but laughed when they saw I had an egg in my hand when I came back. I also remember eating lots of crème caramel since it’s the only thing I would eat on holiday. The earliest memory I have is of my parents faces looking down on me in the living room (they were young) and vaguely the sound of the TV so that must be a long time ago, since my parents are like 55 now [:D] I notice when trying to remember that far back though there isn't such a strong sense of chronology.. wonder why that is?
Heh one last one is I can remember saying my first word, it was "cheers" and I said it when all the family were at my grans sitting around the table [:D] lol I hope that doesn't reflect the rest of my life.
wOw the world spins?
-
Thank you all for your memories, it's really amazing to read them...thank your all for sharing.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)
-
I have memories that because of the place they occur put me between 1 and 2 years of age.
We lived near a train station in a small town. I must have got out of the yard one day and saw what at the time was something of a wonderment. There were men on a little service car that must have been driven by a single cylinder motor because it went putt putt putt as it went by. Because of the smell of the yards and the sound I thought the men on the car were farting. I don't know how I got there and don't recall getting captured again, but by the time I was 2 we had moved from that town.
-
quote:
Originally posted by NewBill
I have memories that because of the place they occur put me between 1 and 2 years of age.
We lived near a train station in a small town. I must have got out of the yard one day and saw what at the time was something of a wonderment. There were men on a little service car that must have been driven by a single cylinder motor because it went putt putt putt as it went by. Because of the smell of the yards and the sound I thought the men on the car were farting. I don't know how I got there and don't recall getting captured again, but by the time I was 2 we had moved from that town.
Thanks Newbill,
Now that's a fantastic bit of recall. Nice. It's amazing how you can remember your thought process's ie: mistaking the putt putt for farts !..and it always amazes me how smells are such a strong aid to memory. Thanks.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Finstagiber.net%2Fsmiliesdotcom%2Fcontrib%2Ficw%2F003.gif&hash=f326f525e3f6c60d4ea3ecbb24d1df2a)
-
quote:
Originally posted by Ultima
I notice when trying to remember that far back though there isn't such a strong sense of chronology.. wonder why that is?
...
It seems that for me certainly, the chronology is retroactively supplied by others who say where we lived and when. Some scenes took my interest and objects such as cars I was able to identify later within a couple of years. I don't think we think very much about chronology when we are very young, certainly not in any linear way. I suspect to a point in our young lives we live in the here and now. My own kids developed a sense of how many sleeps when looking forward to some event. This how many sleeps measurement was dominant passed the beginning of school.
Certainly this would explain the impatience of kids for the prospects of having treats later or arriving back from a trip in hours or god forbid, days. Are we there yet?
-
Thought I'd rejuvenate this thread so that relative newbies may like to add their earliest memories here.
Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
-
My earliest memory is of yesterday when I banged my head against a truck. I was pretty pissed at the truck so I must have tried to hurt it with my head. I guess that wasn't very nice of me, but I was pretty young at the time. I can even remember the color of the truck: blood red. It was all trying to run away from me after that, so I just went to sleep for a while.
-
People have been imprisoned in the United States for child molestation based on false memories. A family that ran a preschool was convicted on child testimony that was absolutely bizzare. I think at least four people were convicted, a woman, her son and daughter and the woman's aged and frail mother. I heard one of the victims speak about the molestation when he was about 18 years old. He said the woman's adult son took him and the other children on a bus trip. When they got out of the bus the adult son killed a giraffe. The young man was on television and it was easy to see that he believed this happened when he was four.
Repressed memories have been so troublesome to the US judiciary that now when testified to in court they are dismissed as evidence. When Freud hypnotized his female clients, in time they all recalled being molested by their fathers. This happened to a fellow psychiatrist, possibly Jung, who realized his suggestions were creating false memories so he gave up the practise.
Experts that I have heard commenting on repressed memory and memory in general tend to think that lack of brain development in children under four prevents them from recalling events later in life. After a child is four years of age on pound of gray matter is added to the brain, neurons migrate and organize. Left-right hemisphere connections are made memories are laid down in a more stable and reliable fashion.
I think we all have false childhood memories and those who don't question them probably enjoy astrology readings, urban legends and ouija revelations. I'm not being critical. I don't think ouija boards are harmful.
I think false memories can be constructed from vivid childhood dreams which the conscious mind edits and reformulates..edits to throw out the unreasonable bits.. reformulates to fit the house, the farm, the school, the c-o-n-t-e-x-t. False memories often come from family stories that are told more often during one's life than we actually realize and pass on to succeeding generations.
Dawes
-
Here is one website for the child molestation case in the United States that I mentioned. Google "McMartin child abuse California" for more.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_mcmar.htm
Dawes
-
my first memory is around 2 or 3, I can remember seeing my little sister in teh nursery at the hospital, and then visiting my mom in her room. I can also remember building a fort for my cat with a babysitter I had around the time of my sisters birth, not sure which came first.
-
My earliest memory is falling off a slide in a park when I was about 3. I landed on my mouth, blood everywhere. But all was well in the end. If I had not had fallen off the slide I wonder what my earliest memory would be.
~~~I can't think of a signature~~~
-
my earliest memory is being hit in the face by a spanner, thrown by my eldest brother,i bled like a stuck pig,probably squealed like one too.(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi48.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ff238%2Frayhinton56%2Fbarzadek.gif&hash=5758ec8f01995dd90f462ae709dddd83)
RE-HAB IS FOR QUITTERS.
-
How old were you Ray when you enjoyed your close encounter with the spanner ?
Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
-
quote:
gary_lankford said: I have two memories from age two. I know I was two because they are both from the farm and we left the farm when I was still two.
The first, I have a basket of eggs (I see myself, so I am narratizing) and I am running to my father (as if he just got home from work) when I fall. I suspect I thought I'd be in trouble. My parents have no memory of this incident, but the timing is right, eggs are usually gathered in the late afternoon or early evening and I did gather eggs.
The second, I am lying in bed, there is a huge full moon shining through the window, and a big bird is flying against the window screen. I was deathly afraid of the neighbors guineas. If you know guineas, you know that they will attack a small child. My mother never could accept that the bird in the window was a guinea. It probably wasn't, but to my mind the only bird that would be trying to get me was a guinea. "The guineas they try to get me." I suspect that the light of the early night full moon seemed to illuminate a path for the birds flight, ended by the window screen in its path. My father says my bedroom window faced east.
quote:
Dawes said:I think we all have false childhood memories and those who don't question them probably enjoy astrology readings...
I agree with you Dawes, not only on the exerpt that I quoted but on the rest of your post.
That is why I gave only two early memories which are unattested by other sources (parents or any other). Nevertheless, the circumstances, places, and times allow for the plausibility of those memories.
I have a very strong mental image of shooting my brother through the finger with his pellet gun. He is kneeling on the floor with his thumb over the muzzle and is pumping the pellet gun. I reach in and pull the trigger.
While this is what actually happened, the "memory" is tainted because the story was told to me many times over the years. i.e. the memory was suggested.
While I agree that we must question not only those early memories, but even much later memories as to their accuracy (memory is often tainted by perspective), I do believe it possibe to retain very early memories. The criteria for judging their accuracy should be very strict.
Gary Lankford
-
I can remember the garden in a house I used to live in & seeing parachutists land in the park at the end of the garden as part of some display. We moved from that house when I was 2 & a half.
-
I remember my Granny Fletcher using an old fashioned washing machine, the type you turned by hand, together with a mangle to squeeze the water out. She used to make us a Toasted Jam sandwich. I remember sitting on my Grandfathers lap, he looked like Captain Birdseye. Fran used to put hot gleeds out of the fire in our wellington boots to warm our feet when they were cold from the frost and snow.
I remeber promissing faithfully to clean out the rabbits that we were allowed to keep and then neglecting to keep them cleaned out and finding they had gone one day.
My Gran and Grandad Field were also amazing, Grandad use to keep pigeons and chickens and always had a dog, the one I remember was a little pink pig called Julie, she was not a pig but an english bull terrier that looked like one. And we used to sleep there when our mum and dad wanted to go out to somewhere special. But most of all I remember the wide open spaces of fields that stretched forever, now housing estates. Geeze, I sound more like my grans and grandads the older I get.
One day I was very young and woke up looking round to find someone had changed our room while I slept, a further look revealed I was in the wrong house and must have been totally drained when I fell on the settee and slept soundly. I was in a house just up the road, but it didn't matter in those days, as everyone in the street were our friends and no one locked their doors.
And then school started, which meant running the gauntlet of the school bullies each Monday who frequently gave us a good hiding and stole our dinner money, until we became tough enough to deal with them.
I remember also a kaolin poultice being slapped on my neck when I had the mumps, and screaming blue murder because it was so hot it burned the skin off my neck. And that was the first and last poultice they ever put on me. Life was hard for me an my brother in those days. We had beatings for getting beatings if you get my drift.
I must have been aged about two when I remember walking by the side of the pram with my brother in it. We used to walk miles, no car in those days til much later and we definately went to see gran and grandad field, which was about 3 miles from our house, so 6 miles round trip, obviously being carried part of the way.
And oddly enough, when I was a little older, we noticed some children playing in the house next door to my gran and grandad Field. A few years ago, I learned that one of those children turned out to be the girl I married and we had obviously met before without realsiing it.
"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
K.I.S. "Keep it simple!"
-
quote:
Originally posted by Andrew K Fletcher
And oddly enough, when I was a little older, we noticed some children playing in the house next door to my gran and grandad Field. A few years ago, I learned that one of those children turned out to be the girl I married and we had obviously met before without realsiing it.
Spooky, eh!
-
That is indeed spooky Andrew !!
....many thanks to you all for your memories. Fascinating..and I appreciate your sharing these early experiences.
Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
-
I can't remember too much from my early childhood, but I do remember at the age of three...ish, showing off for a neighbor. Picking up a large brick (large for a youngster anyway) pretending to be some sort of a super hero. Dropping the brick on my toe and cutting the tip off. My dad picked me (screaming like I just had my toe cut off) and the toe of discussion up and made his way to the hospital. Two dozen stitches and a chocolate bar or two later I was on my way to recovery, tip and' all.
Io
-
quote:
How old were you Ray when you enjoyed your close encounter with the spanner ?
i was probably about 4, i still have the scars, inside and out.(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi48.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ff238%2Frayhinton56%2F36_1_32v.gif&hash=84d7cfc8cd73900e4b715001734ded09)
RE-HAB IS FOR QUITTERS.
-
i remember back to when i was two and a half ( validated by the fact it was my brothers sixth birthday) i had pinched one of his fruit polo's and started choking on it. This then resulted in my grandad having to pick me up turn me upside down and whack me in the back to dislodge it. I have never to this day eaten another polo of any description.
a thompson
-
quote:
Originally posted by annemarie thompson
i remember back to when i was two and a half ( validated by the fact it was my brothers sixth birthday) i had pinched one of his fruit polo's and started choking on it. This then resulted in my grandad having to pick me up turn me upside down and whack me in the back to dislodge it. I have never to this day eaten another polo of any description.
a thompson
Well those german VW POLOS are notoriously difficult to digest [:D] you really ought to start on something a little smoother on the stomach like a Mini with garlic sauce [;)]..
Seriously though, thank you for your memory...it's quite clear to me now that it's very rare to recall back before the age of 2.
Annemarie...next time you go shopping why don't you buy a tube of polos and overcome this fear ?...you're missing out on fruit and mint hole orientated sweety joy and goodness !! [:)]...plus..if you can demonstrate to hubby that YOU can overcome by example then perhaps he'll try and do the same and visit your GP.
Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!
-
i can remember being in my pram and seeing my brother climbing through the kicthen window. 18mt to 2yr aprox
-
BTT.....if any newbies would like to contribute here ..it would be appreciated...thanks
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
-
I am resurrecting this for purely selfish reasons...I love this thread and am genuinely interested in peoples earliest recollections. So, if you have not contributed here please do so..
Mirage ?...Iko ?..Roy P ? etc etc...
(of course it's only a request...)
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
-
I have many 'snippets' of memory from before the age of 5. But 5 is my earliest vivid memory. I was playing with Barbie Dolls at a neighbors home. We were on her front porch and all of a sudden I felt a stinging in my back. I had been shot with a 22 caliber shot gun. I threw my hand back to see what it was and when I looked, it was covered in blood. My friends mom came running to me, picked me up and ran towards my home. I said to her "My parents are going to have to put me to bed". My parents saw her and came running towards us. I remember all the neighbors surrounding me and my parents taking my clothes off. I didn't feel any pain until I looked down and saw my white dress covered in blood. My parents loaded me up in the car and headed for the hospital. Our road had speed bumps in it and I remember feeling the blood ooze out of me evertime they hit one. I felt sticky and very cold. When we got to the hospital everyone was running and I kept saying, "if you pray for me God won't let me die". I remember saying that to everyone I saw. I remember seeing nurses crying and then running out of the operating room. And then I 'went to sleep'. I also remember while I was in the hospital, asking my dad for a bike. I wanted a green 'big girl' bike. A few hours later after waking from a nap, my dad picked me up and carried me to the window. Down in the back of his truck was a green big girl bike. I knew then that I had daddy wrapped around my little finger.
Carolyn
-
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carolyn....did they ever get the person who shot you ?......why did they do it ?
THANK (GOD) you are still here !!
I think I understand why you will never forget that !!...Who can shoot a 5 year old ?????
Mam.....THANK YOU THANK YOU for your amazing memory.
WE ALL LOVE YOU CAROLYN..
Oh My GAWWWWWWWWWWDDD !!!!!!
Carolyn is amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
-
Thank you Neil, you're so kind.
Yes, they did find the person who shot me. However, since the bullet was too close to my spine, it couldn't be removed, so they had no evidence. It was a teenaged boy, who was out hunting with a friend and didn't realize there was a neighborhood just beyond the woods. I forgave him a long time ago. It actually turned out to be my 7th grade English teachers son.
Carolyn
-
Phew !!..So, it was an accident of the worst kind with the best possible outcome...ie: your life !!
So, you have the bullet inside you !...wow !!...surely all they needed was provide an X-RAy for evidence !!...but...as I am not a lawyer I presume it's not valid.
THANK YOU for this most profound memory Carolyn and my admiration to you for the power of your forgiveness.
Men are the same as women, just inside out !
-
I am BTT (Bring To Top) this thread in the hope that new people joined since the last post will contribute also.
-
I have many early childhood memories but the earliest I think was this.
I remember my mothers face and me being in a pram of the old fashioned type with a big hood and 4 big wheels. I was sat up in the pram, which was parked by the side of a fence and on the other side of the fence was a railway line. My mother was pointing to a steam train approaching.
I cant remember how old I was at the time and can only remember it in pictures and not with sound. Although it was a long time ago, maybe 1953, the pictures in my head are in colour and not black and white! [;D]
And now a sad but funny memory from about 3-4 years old.
We used to have a big garden and hedgehogs were frequent visitors. My mother always told me not to touch them as the were full of fleas so one day I discovered a hedgehog and decided to "deflea" it. I must have ignored what she said about touching it as the next thing I remember I had put it into a bucket full of disinfectant water! [:I]
My mother had left the bucket outside after moping the kitchen floor.
I'm not sure how long I had left the hedgehog in the bucket for but needless to say I didn't realise the poor thing could drown!
The now, very still hedgehog was put back and when I looked the following day it had gone.
I think it may have just held its breath..............cough!
TMM
-
I have many early childhood memories but the earliest I think was this.
I remember my mothers face and me being in a pram of the old fashioned type with a big hood and 4 big wheels. I was sat up in the pram, which was parked by the side of a fence and on the other side of the fence was a railway line. My mother was pointing to a steam train approaching.
I cant remember how old I was at the time and can only remember it in pictures and not with sound. Although it was a long time ago, maybe 1953, the pictures in my head are in colour and not black and white! [;D]
And now a sad but funny memory from about 3-4 years old.
We used to have a big garden and hedgehogs were frequent visitors. My mother always told me not to touch them as the were full of fleas so one day I discovered a hedgehog and decided to "deflea" it. I must have ignored what she said about touching it as the next thing I remember I had put it into a bucket full of disinfectant water! [:I]
My mother had left the bucket outside after moping the kitchen floor.
I'm not sure how long I had left the hedgehog in the bucket for but needless to say I didn't realise the poor thing could drown!
The now, very still hedgehog was put back and when I looked the following day it had gone.
I think it may have just held its breath..............cough!
TMM
THANK YOU so much TMM for this wonderful most treasured memory.
This memory of the train is fantastic....It must have been quite an amazing thing to see such a sight as a hunk of train was approaching bellowing steam.
I can imagine such awe that would be for a a young child and perhaps this is why this particular event has set in your memory. The fact that you too were also inside a vehicle with big wheels also lends itself to the recollection.
Wonderful.
LOL...I do hope the hedgehog was OK.........I really hope after it had held it's breath that it carried on it's merry way......only cleaner !!
That too is an awesome memory and I really appreciate your sharing it. No doubt your hedgehog de-fleaing days were soon over after that.
THANK YOU TMM
-
Paul ?..Seany ?..anybody new ?...care to share some early memories ?
-
Lordy, i have trouble remembering yesterday! I can remember living in wilsden in london, the first time i watched Chelsea in '83 ish against luton town. I remember how much of a pain it is tapping replies on this mobile!
-
Willsden, stupid keys!
-
How old were ewe Paul ?
-
We left willsden when i was about 6, and went to MK. I was about 13 when i first watched Chelsea
-
We left willsden when i was about 6, and went to MK. I was about 13 when i first watched Chelsea
I am sure you can remember back a little earlier than that....most people it's about 3 or 4..sometimes as early as two....very rarely less than 12 months.......
-
.....having said all..if you care to read from the beginning you'll see that for me it's about 4 or 5
-
The problem is, how much do you actually remember, and how much is reconstructed memories from small fragments, maybe supported by photographs to help fill in some of the missing bits.
My earliest memory is about 5 or 6 (although, the older I get, the more early memories I lose - and I know that runs contrary to most people's experience, where they lose recent memories before they lose older memories). My earliest memories, I do no remember images or sounds, I just remember the abstract facts as recollections of facts. Even those memories are only of incidents where we have photographs, or have talked about subsequently, and so could easily be reconstructed memories.
When I posted the picture of me, at 11 years of age, I was looking through other contemporary photos, which included pictures of my mother and sister at the time, and I realise that I really do not remember what they looked like at the time (although ofcourse I recognised them from the photos), but the only image I have of them really is contemporary. That having been said, i do remember lots of old photos, including photos of myself what I was a few months old, but clearly I can only remember seeing the photo, not recollect directly the incidents in the photos.
One incident I recollect was when I started going to secondary school, the school was near an area where I used to live when I was about 3 or 4 years old. One lunchtime, a friend of mine and I were walking around the area where the school was, and we turned down a path where I had not been before, and immediately I said "I know where this path leads". I could not visualise the path - I had no visual memory of the path, but I just knew where the path was, and knew I had walked down the path before.
-
Excellent reply, george. I have a interesting reply but it will have to wait until i get home.
-
I'm not asking for fragmentation's or hints of recollections..(though I will gladly hear those too)...as ..yes...these could be reconstructed ...and it's worth bearing in mind that a reconstructed memory may be the truth also.
I have recollections as told to me by many many people. Most are clearly definable incidents that expand to become an event that may have lasted anything from a few minutes to a day. They are detailed and don't appear to be dressed up with dramatic license. They usually center around a parent directly or a parent is part of the memory....but not all the time...just most !...This is because of the age most earliest memories are recalled from of course.
They are usually memories that either have been ingrained because of their repetitive nature...eg : a parent singing a lullaby each night, the memory of laying in the cot and seeing a parents head and body come into view with a smile and a song...encompassing sight, smell , sound and touch !....or there are others which are drama induced !!....eg : sitting in a pram at a train and seeing a train come into view for the first time and witnessing it and hearing it coming into the station on a hot day..where the sun is shining....
These are the memories I'm particularly interested in.
There is usually always one........and I will always be happy to hear about a reconstructed memory anyway...it's usually viable !
-
I'm not asking for fragmentation's or hints of recollections..(though I will gladly hear those too)...as ..yes...these could be reconstructed ...and it's worth bearing in mind that a reconstructed memory may be the truth also.
I would question whether or not all memory is essentially fragmentary in nature - the brain stores the minimum it considers necessary, and when it recalls those fragments, it they fills in the missing pieces. This is why witness statements are inherently unreliable, because even the recollection of recent events is based only upon the recollection of fragments which are then filled out by what the brain considers to be a reasonable interpretation of those fragments. It is also a problem when witnesses discuss the memories they have, in that they then develop a shared interpretation of their pooled fragmentary recollections, rather than remaining independent witnesses to the same event.
-
I think those are my ealiest memories, Neil.
as you know my memory is pretty poor, i think i don't remember anything before the age of 5/6 because we moved around so much. different countries and regions. never long enough to put down roots.
although i have started to remember things from the age of 10 which i had forgotten all about, thanks to this topic. i will not hijack the topic with what i was going to reply to george with, i will start a new topic later.
-
BTT !!
Stuart...can you elaborate on your memory here......
...also...anybody else want to leave an 'earliest' memory.....
-
BTT?
My earliest are from about the age of 3. I "remember" going to playschool, being at playschool and singing songs, I recall wearing a particular t-shirt for the school photo (a blue one with a rainbow on it), painting a picture. I remember going to the hospital with my Dad to go and see Mum when she was having my sister, and she is 3 1/2 years younger.......I can remember the woodland we went into to pick bluebells to give to Mum too. There are literally tens if not hundreds more of pre 5 memories - playing in the snow with a tonka truck, playing with my sticklebrick, my very first day at first school etc etc which I won't bore you all with here. I may be able to remember stuff from earlier, but without a point of reference to provide an age or date, it's difficult to verify.
-
Stuart what is a Sticklebrick?
-
Stuart what is a Sticklebrick?
It's a lego type spin-off, in that it is a series of differently shaped blocks that have little spines in them that enables the blocks to fit together:
http://www.constructionkits2enjoy.org.uk/acatalog/sticklebricks.html?gclid=CJTB_8ez1I0CFSAwXgodSjpnYw
-
BTT?
My earliest are from about the age of 3. I "remember" going to playschool, being at playschool and singing songs, I recall wearing a particular t-shirt for the school photo (a blue one with a rainbow on it), painting a picture. I remember going to the hospital with my Dad to go and see Mum when she was having my sister, and she is 3 1/2 years younger.......I can remember the woodland we went into to pick bluebells to give to Mum too. There are literally tens if not hundreds more of pre 5 memories - playing in the snow with a tonka truck, playing with my sticklebrick, my very first day at first school etc etc which I won't bore you all with here. I may be able to remember stuff from earlier, but without a point of reference to provide an age or date, it's difficult to verify.
BTT- Bring To Top !
THANK YOU Stuart.....I am not surprised you particularly remember such a striking T shirt...colouful and bright...it would have certainly made an impact.....
...seeing mummy in hopsital too.....a big big place, strange odours and seeing mummy in an unusual setting...introducing you for the first time to your new sister !!
Sticklebrick....excellent !!..I remember that too....fascinating the way they stuck together...another reason why you should remember that so...
First day at school ?......yes indeed.....all finely tuned and indelible memories..
THANK YOU very much for these awesome recollections !!
-
Stuart what is a Sticklebrick?
It's a lego type spin-off, in that it is a series of differently shaped blocks that have little spines in them that enables the blocks to fit together:
http://www.constructionkits2enjoy.org.uk/acatalog/sticklebricks.html?gclid=CJTB_8ez1I0CFSAwXgodSjpnYw
Oh we have those at the preschool but they call them something else I can't remember the name.. LOL
-
I also remember my first situational "joke". I was 4 I think, and my Mum had a friend who had a beaten up old beetle (VW) which she'd parked outside the front of the house. I recall looking out of the window and saying that there were some people outside who were going to take her car away. She dashed to the window and saw some dustmen......Not exactly Oscar Wilde, but hey, I was 4!
-
Oh we have those at the preschool but they call them something else I can't remember the name.. LOL
If it was California, then they were probably called "Mega Dyno Building Buster Death Blocks - new, from KTel" or something. [;)]
-
I also remember my first situational "joke". I was 4 I think, and my Mum had a friend who had a beaten up old beetle (VW) which she'd parked outside the front of the house. I recall looking out of the window and saying that there were some people outside who were going to take her car away. She dashed to the window and saw some dustmen......Not exactly Oscar Wilde, but hey, I was 4!
LOL !..This is EXCELLENT Stuart !!...your first moment of comedic pride and talent...(cheeky observational thinking )..a talent that most definitely you have carried along with you as demonstrated here on this site.....
Does it make you feel good when you recall that ?....
-
LOL !..This is EXCELLENT Stuart !!...your first moment of comedic pride and talent...(cheeky observational thinking )..a talent that most definitely you have carried along with you as demonstrated here on this site.....
Thankyou, kind sir! As I always say, if you can't laugh, then someones sown your lips together....
Does it make you feel good when you recall that ?....
Well, I can see it in my children, so it's nice to see a sense of humour (if you'd call it that) developing, and it's great to think that in the future, we're going to have a right old laugh.
-
Stuart....Thank you Mr Dendro sir......
I am just fascinated with the nature of memory (and mammaries)...always have been..as far back as I can remember !.. [:)]
Didn't realise you had kids...ages ? genders ?
-
2&4&boy&boy
*Sings "Thanks for the mammory"*
-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/memory/programmes/the_results.shtml
-
Any new memory recollections from new members ?
Glad I remembered this thread !
-
Being smaked by my mommy [:(]
I think that's the earliest anyway...
-
They tell me that I nearly drowned when I was three but I can't remember [:)][???]
-
In one of my earliest memories, I was at a neighbours home, just outside the back door, and had been playing with some eels that the man I called 'Uncle Ben' had caught when fishing. They were in a bucket of water until Auntie Jane came alone, got them out of the bucket, wrapped them in newspaers and chopped their heads off so that she could cook them for Uncle Ben's tea. I recall being rather upset over that.
We moved from that house when I was two years old.
While still there, I can recall a large grey horse that pulled a coal delivery cart. His name was Jimmy, and he used to poke his head in through the front door. I seem to recall he could almost reach the sofa, and once tried to take a biscuit off me. The house was very small - a terraces cottage really and with a door right on the street.
I can also recall travelling on a bus and stroking a lady's fur coat. It was the same colour as our giner cat, Ginger! Still at that house, I recall making mud pies and being told off for getting dirty. There was a sand pit, but I always preferred playing in the 'black dirt'. [:D]
When we moved to the new house, there was an old man called Bill Cotton living next door and he used to call me over to the fence and lean over to give me fruit or sweets. One morning he called me and had a banana, and I can remember going towards him holding the skirt of my dress down, not because it was windy, but because I was being dressed when he called and my mother hadn't yet put my knickers on me! [;D]
-
12 months. Yep - that early. I am sitting on the floor, looking up towards my mother who is rocking back and forth and smiling at me. There is no sound though, Just a visual. She is sitting and - as I now understand - knitting something yellow. The colour stands out., as does the sunshine behind my mother through the window. My mother only knitted me one thing - a yellow jersey that I had outgrown by the time I was 18 months old !!!
-
I think we have some recollection of being born, I have sometimes had a dream of coming out of a flooded tunnel.