ELi5 Why we don’t remember our first four years since birth?
In: 3
wait what? but we do though. i actually remember a lot from my first 4 years of life. this might just be you.
Because our brains lack the capability to organize and remember specifics *when we are that young. Hard to remember words when you don’t know them kinda thing, but applied to everything you experience. Before we learn the words and develop a way to describe life abstractly it is harder to retain explicit memory and it more likely becomes stored as semantic memory
Brain too small to make room. It’s learning core stuff like breathing walking and making sounds that others understand. Then it upgrades and goes shit now I can remember stuff let’s start doing that
This is highly specific to the person you’re asking, since memory is different from person to person, but the short answer is, there are lots of different ideas, but no one knows for sure. Some scientists think it’s because our brains develop so fast when we’re young that the part that makes memories doesn’t fully work that early.
Speaking of memories in the first four years of life, I have two very distinct memories from three years old, I know this because they were both from when my mom and dad were still together, and they divorced when I was three. I also have plenty from age four on.
I think how much people remember and how early varies from person to person. I have a large number of very clear memories from when I was 3 and 4. These are not influenced by photos or videos because I was born in 64. With my family photos were only taken for special occasions and video didn’t exist.
It depends on the person. In my case, i barely have memories of my first 9 years of life (mostly because of some physical brain trauma but whatever).
Well considering my memories go back to a little under the age of two it’s not everyone.
It depends on the person.
I remember my first friend being killed in a first generation yellow Honda civic.
I still remember him.
I remember the big blue Oldsmobile that replaced the Honda at his house.
It’s fostered a lifelong dislike of Hondas it happened just shy of my 3rd birthday, I still remember being angry with him as I had no concept of death. I’ve never liked my birthday as far as I can remember.
I remember the day a year past when he was killed his mother trying to kill his father with a silver 1981 Plymouth Reliant I was a bit shy of four.
I remember the pain of an infection from when I was three I still have the scars so there is a reminder.
Why? well I haven’t a clue.
My best stab in the dark guess is that our strongest memories involve pain and fear and most people aren’t in much pain at that point in their lives. I convinced myself I chose not to forget but I really don’t know.
Interestingly I recently talked to his father due to a random encounter. I was picking my mother up from physio and they recognized each other. He was surprised I still remembered his sons face. I have no photo so that’s not the source and I haven’t seen his family since I was very small.
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Some can and i do.
I’m 60 and have a memories from a home we moved from when I was 4.
Like picking up our phone, which was a shared party line, and listening to the people talking.
And climbing into a tree in our backyard and getting stuck four feet off the ground thinking I was going to die, screamed my head off and dad came out and with one hand put me on the ground. I have maybe 10 of these.
I don’t remember any of the things I’ve seen pictures or videos of.
Many people *can* have memories from that young, but they’re going to be few and far between because your brain has trouble forming long-term memories at that age.
I have a memory from when I was around 1 year old, but only because it was a particular moment that I kept lingering on combined with my grandmother bringing it up very often in conversations, thus reminding me about the incident. That’s also the *only* memory I can recall from that far back. All of the others begin at around 4-5 years old, since I have quite a few memories from preschool.
ELi5 Why we don’t remember our first four years since birth?
In: 3
wait what? but we do though. i actually remember a lot from my first 4 years of life. this might just be you.
Because our brains lack the capability to organize and remember specifics *when we are that young. Hard to remember words when you don’t know them kinda thing, but applied to everything you experience. Before we learn the words and develop a way to describe life abstractly it is harder to retain explicit memory and it more likely becomes stored as semantic memory
Brain too small to make room. It’s learning core stuff like breathing walking and making sounds that others understand. Then it upgrades and goes shit now I can remember stuff let’s start doing that
This is highly specific to the person you’re asking, since memory is different from person to person, but the short answer is, there are lots of different ideas, but no one knows for sure. Some scientists think it’s because our brains develop so fast when we’re young that the part that makes memories doesn’t fully work that early.
Speaking of memories in the first four years of life, I have two very distinct memories from three years old, I know this because they were both from when my mom and dad were still together, and they divorced when I was three. I also have plenty from age four on.
I think how much people remember and how early varies from person to person. I have a large number of very clear memories from when I was 3 and 4. These are not influenced by photos or videos because I was born in 64. With my family photos were only taken for special occasions and video didn’t exist.
It depends on the person. In my case, i barely have memories of my first 9 years of life (mostly because of some physical brain trauma but whatever).
Well considering my memories go back to a little under the age of two it’s not everyone.
It depends on the person.
I remember my first friend being killed in a first generation yellow Honda civic.
I still remember him.
I remember the big blue Oldsmobile that replaced the Honda at his house.
It’s fostered a lifelong dislike of Hondas it happened just shy of my 3rd birthday, I still remember being angry with him as I had no concept of death. I’ve never liked my birthday as far as I can remember.
I remember the day a year past when he was killed his mother trying to kill his father with a silver 1981 Plymouth Reliant I was a bit shy of four.
I remember the pain of an infection from when I was three I still have the scars so there is a reminder.
Why? well I haven’t a clue.
My best stab in the dark guess is that our strongest memories involve pain and fear and most people aren’t in much pain at that point in their lives. I convinced myself I chose not to forget but I really don’t know.
Interestingly I recently talked to his father due to a random encounter. I was picking my mother up from physio and they recognized each other. He was surprised I still remembered his sons face. I have no photo so that’s not the source and I haven’t seen his family since I was very small.
[removed]
Some can and i do.
I’m 60 and have a memories from a home we moved from when I was 4.
Like picking up our phone, which was a shared party line, and listening to the people talking.
And climbing into a tree in our backyard and getting stuck four feet off the ground thinking I was going to die, screamed my head off and dad came out and with one hand put me on the ground. I have maybe 10 of these.
I don’t remember any of the things I’ve seen pictures or videos of.
Many people *can* have memories from that young, but they’re going to be few and far between because your brain has trouble forming long-term memories at that age.
I have a memory from when I was around 1 year old, but only because it was a particular moment that I kept lingering on combined with my grandmother bringing it up very often in conversations, thus reminding me about the incident. That’s also the *only* memory I can recall from that far back. All of the others begin at around 4-5 years old, since I have quite a few memories from preschool.
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