Why is it that in our memories of our friends when we were kids, none of them seem to have childish features or look “kiddish”. But now as adults looking at kids the exact age, they look so young?
In: 39
Is that a thing that happens? I just see young people as young
Your memory is not merely a picture album. Your memories also consist of your impressions of things you had at the time. At the time, you were also a kid, kids your age were your peers, people you probably considered about as mature and knowledgeable as yourself. And so that impression from back then colors your memory of those events.
Also, memories are not static, the very act of remembering something has the potential to change and shift the memory subtly.
Over time you’ve learned many associations. Back then, you associated those faces with things like ‘friend’, ‘peer’, ‘like me’.
And decades later you associate those faces with things like ‘youth’, ‘innocence’, ‘children’ and so on.
It’s the same reason why one person can look at a portrait picture and think ‘average middle-aged man’ while another person might see that face and think ‘monster, butcher, warcrimina’ because they have very different associations. It’s the same non-descript middle-aged man but the associations are very different.
memory is relative. everyone looks like the last time you saw them regardless when the memory is from.
we don’t remember names for example, we remember how the name is different or similar to other names we ‘know’
Perspective.
You were the same age. You saw the same world.
Now you see a different one.
I don’t know because I don’t really remember people faces, but I have a great little story…. I went to school with a kid called ‘Dave’, we went to different secondary schools and didn’t see each other again until 10+ years later when we were in our early 20s at a crowded pub, where we bumped into each other I looked at him and said ‘hello Dave’ he said ‘hello Lochnessmother’. We had both changed so much, but it was instant.
Your memory is the most subjective thing there is. Your memories are really imperfect and can change according to many factors, even just using a memory can change parts of it. Your age alone can definitely change a memory from childhood
I have a different perspective.
When I look pictures of young people in their early twenties, from the age before I was born. They seem to me older than me and im almost 40.
You will always feel this way. People your age won’t seem young or old but those younger than you always seem childish and those older seem ancient.
It is weird being middle aged and seeing all your friends from highschool and college with kids. A 20 year old seems like just a kid now but when I was 20 I felt like all 20 year olds were adults like me
Latest Answers