eli5: how is it that human doesnt remember anything from first several years of their life?

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We took our now 3,5 years old son for a trip to USA last fall … so he was 2,5 years old that time. We live in Europe. Next week i am traveling there again so i spoke with him about me traveling to USA and he started asking me questions about places we were last year. Also he was telling me many specific memories from that trip last year and was asking me about specific people we have met. That is not surprising, it was last year. But how is it possible, that he will not remember anything from it 15 years from now if he remember it year after? I mean, he will not remember he was in USA at all.
I would understand that kids and toddlers keep forgetting stuff and thats why they will never remember them as an adults. But if they remember things from year or more ago, why will they forgett them as an adults?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The hypocampus is not fully developed until about 5 years old.

It’s basically like having a computer with RAM but no actual Hard Drive. Young Kids can remember things for a few months, but there’s no long term storage.

What there is, is a scema for wiring up that hard drive once it arrives, and that will dictate how it operates, and is why your personality mostly coalesces around the age of 6

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