LogFAQs > #964437211

My first memory used to be trying to escape a playpen and crawling around on the floor of my original house, which I moved out of when I was 2. So my first memory was somewhere around 1-2 years old.

But as you get older, older memories start to fade, and all that you're really left with are memories of your memories. In other words, I can still remember that I used to remember that, but I can't actually remember it itself now. I mostly just remember me telling the story (like I am now).

This is one of the ways that liars come to believe their own lies - if you tell the lie often enough, you remember the lie but can forget the original truth. So stories and memories can slowly change over time as we accidentally edit our memories in our own brain. This is also how some people will "remember" things that they've been repeatedly told happened - they don't actually remember it, they remember other people telling them the story, and their brain sort of fills in the gaps (ie, if enough people tell you that you smashed your face into your birthday cake on your 2nd birthday, you might start "remembering" that you did it, even if you don't actually remember that you did it).

At this point in my life I'm not actually sure what my oldest real memory is. A lot of my childhood memories just feel like echoes and summaries of what happened rather than actual vivid memories of the moments themselves. But most of the little stories and anecdotes I tend to tell come from around 4-5 at the earliest because that's around the time most of my stories became coherent enough to repeat and reinforce over time.

I know I've definitely forgotten tons of things over time, because I can remember where the holes are. Like how when I was younger I used to be able to name every single kid in my class pictures, or name every teacher I ever had in school, but now I can't. Generally, if you don't reinforce memories over time through use, they fade.