7.09.2009

What can you remember?

What is memory? According to Wisegeek.com, human memory consists of information patterns being stored temporarily or permanently in the interconnection patterns and synaptic weightings among neurons in the brain, also known as the gathering of information from the outside world through our senses. We all do it, although some of us remember things differently than others.

I have friends who can't tell you the name of the book they are currently reading or who wrote it. The same friends can read a book over and over again and always be surprised by the ending. I, on the other hand, remember the name of every teacher I had throughout my education. Why? I dunno. I can watch the beginning of a CSI episode and 10 minutes into it, if I've seen it once, I remember who done it. I can't reread a mystery because I always remember how it ends and yet I can walk into a room and forget why I'm there. I go to the grocery store for one specific thing and walk out without it. I think of a really kick ass storyline and by the time I get home to write it down, it's gone.

This my friends, is why my husband bought me a digital recorder. This is the coolest little gadget in the whole wide world. It records and it saves and there's no tapes. Even when it runs out of batteries, it still remembers. How cool is technology???

So how do y'all remember kick ass story lines and such? Do you write it down? What if you're driving? Inquiring minds want to know.

5 comments:

  1. THAT IS SO COOL !!! me wants one :D I have about a dozen little notepads hidden around my house, in my purse, under my mattress, in the glove compartment. When I'm out and can't find one, I write on napkins, reciepts, business cards etc.
    And yes, memory is a fickle beast. I've often compared my brain to a sieve - most of my memories fall through the cracks but those that get stuck there are in bright detail forever !
    I have a friend who can tell you the year a song was released because she was in Mr. So and So's class, sitting next to Such and Such and they were discussing their term paper, which was about Blah, Blah, Blah ...

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  2. My memory is just like yours, Erika. I can't re-read books unless they are my absolute keepers. I can remember faint details of my childhood, all of which I wish I couldn't remember, but I go into a store and walk out without getting what I went in there for. I can even make a list and then forget to look at the list. *duh* lol I landmarks are imbedded in my memory. That's how I remember how to get somewhere. I found a house I lived in when I was in 4th grade, a place I had only lived not even a year, just from landmarks. Yeah, I'm a very visual person. I mean, you have stopped by on a Screaming O Friday, right? *BEG*

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  3. Yep, that's me too - visual I mean ... Everything I remember has a strong visual element. OH, and smell - yes, I know smell is closest to the 'remember' center in our brain but I've often been told I have the nose of a blood-hound (you should have seen me when I was pregnant ...) and I can bring up the most bizarre memories if I find the right smell.

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  4. Kira, I'm glad it's not just me. :D

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  5. Ban, did your sense of smell improve when you were pregnant? I have a friend who has a friend who lost her sense of smell while she was pregnant. Weird huh?

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