Xuen Tey - Week #15 - Recollections
I’ve never had a terribly excellent memory. As I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, my memory is akin to a puzzle where about a fifth of the puzzle pieces are scattered in random areas like the world’s most convoluted crossover between a scavenger hunt and a puzzle. As a result of that, my recollection of past experiences tends to differ greatly from what other people around me recall.
For example, I was bullied as a child in elementary school. I remember vividly about how my bully often teased me, but never physically attacked me.
At least that was what I was under the impression of, but apparently my memories of being bullied are not quite completely accurate. A while ago, I was talking about my memories of getting bullied, and my mother revealed that, according to one of my friends from elementary school, I was pushed off a bench by my bully. To this day, I have absolutely zero recollection of this event ever happening.
In a slightly contrasting example, I once started watching a movie with my family when I felt I had watched the movie before, since it felt extremely familiar to me. My sister agreed with me when I brought this up, but my mother insisted that the movie was a newly released film and that there was no possible way I could have watched it before. While watching the movie, I knew most of the events that were happening, and I could vividly recall the plot and characters, so I was quite baffled throughout the duration of the show.
Sometimes when I’m in class, I get a strong sense of deja vu, like I’ve been in the moment before, but the activity we were doing was completely new. These flashes are also extremely random. One can occur in my science class in the midst of a lab, then the next will occur several months later as I hang out with my friends at lunch. Sometimes I wonder if it’s connected to the fact that I rarely dream (or just don’t remember my dreams according to some) and maybe I dreamed about specific events that eventually occurred later in my life, but I’m not sure I will ever truly know.
Hi Xuen! I’m sorry to hear that you were bullied in elementary school. I hope you’re fine now despite those painful memories. Perhaps not remembering physical attacks is a good thing though, something unpleasant getting erased might be a little comforting. I do enjoy finding random puzzle pieces from the depths of my mind, as it often fuels a hint of nostalgia and leaves me yearning to recreate the experience.
ReplyDeleteIf you vividly remember the plot and characters, then was it a remake? I recall reading something, although I can’t say for sure what, that seemed quite familiar; it turned out to be a “retelling” of a story. Moments like those are frustrating because I struggle to connect it to a lost memory, and often come up with nothing. However, for me, something like deja vu tends to feel nice. For me, I do believe it’s because a real life situation matches something that happened in a dream, so it feels like I have foresight. I feel like it’s happened a few times in my history class, but in this case, I think it’s more like all the repetitive days merging into one and the lesson having information I already knew, so the deja vu I feel stems from an amalgamation of blobby, hazy memories.
Hi Xuen!
ReplyDeleteIm sorry to hear that you were bullied when you were a kid. As someone who also suffered from something similar in middle school, I definitely relate to you. You are definitely not alone in feeling bouts of deja vu. These past couple of months, I have been having deja vu episodes. I walk into rooms and feel like I have been in them before, even though it is my first time in that room. Unlike you I have somewhat of a good memory, but I only remember trivial things, like all of the models of my family members’ old phones, but I can’t remember my medical ID number. I remember learning about memory in psychology a couple of weeks ago, and I think it can relate to your blog!
Crystalized intelligence is memories and skills that stay with you in old age. An example of crystalized intelligence is language skills and historical knowledge. Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve problems quickly; examples include data identification and playing video games. I also remember learning about how the brain tends to block out memories that are either traumatic or unnecessary. Great blog!
Hi Xuen, sorry to hear that you were bullied in elementary school. It’s such a drag to have to deal with such people, but at least it’s over now and people have matured. Karma catches up to everyone. Your blog this week was as interesting as it was baffling because I find it really interesting that your memory works in such mysterious ways, sometimes it’s almost like you’ve lived the future, and other times your past seems to blur. Deja vu is a funny thing because sometimes it’s so difficult to figure out where you recognize that event and other times it’s so obvious. The human brain works in such mysterious ways, and understanding that is one of the most fascinating fields of study (yes I really want to take psychology lol). I think that is the beauty of memory and the mystery of why we remember certain events at certain times. Sometimes it’s because of a certain smell, or person, but the more random ones are very interesting. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and these random recollections that stick around and pop up at a moments notice always carry little gifts of wisdom or good fortune, Dreams are another funky concept and it’s fascinating how it’s so hard to remember a dream from the night before even though it felt so real in that moment. It would be pretty cool if your dreams were glimpses into the future, if you ever find that to be true please let me know because I’ve always wanted to meet someone who could predict or see the future.
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