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What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 3:41 pm
Would such a power be good? Bad? Both? Neither? Why?
https://twitter.com/i/moments/918903010528395264
Rebecca Sharrock has a rare condition known as Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (or HSAM) which gives her the ability to recall any memory in her life, all the back to when she was a baby. Since being diagnosed, Sharrock has been remarkably open about her life with HSAM.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 3:43 pm
That's incredible...
I'm sure it has it's pros and cons.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 4:03 pm
(This post was last modified: October 13, 2017 at 4:05 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
What would I do? Sad and horrible things. Forgetting is a feature, not a bug.
Optimism is nothing if not a habitual and disciplined form of forgetfulness. 
In any case, I can remember back to when I was two, spottily, lol.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 4:25 pm
I'd kill myself. Not even kidding.
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 4:28 pm
(October 13, 2017 at 4:25 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote: I'd kill myself. Not even kidding.
This was going to be my answer. Kill myself. I’m also not kidding.
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 4:44 pm
Yeah I would kill myself, no doubt.
“What screws us up the most in life is the picture in our head of what it's supposed to be.”
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 5:07 pm
I'll answer with my own take. I think my net feeling is such a thing would be unwanted. I do have lingering feelings (grudges? I don't know. It feels different, really.) about a certain time in 2004. I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, attending a minor league pro men's soccer playoff away against the team from Pittsburgh, where I lived. This Jehovah's Witness father and daughter, who came to matches a lot, pulled up to where I was waiting for the rain to ebb after the match was called early for lightning. They told me to get into their car. I said "No." They repeated their demand that I get into their car, noting that they had informed police about me. I felt threatened by this enough to where I buckled and got in their car.
We pull away, and get near the Greyhound, and I ask him to drop me off at Greyhound, for which I had my ticket back. He flatly said no, at which point I momentarily got nervous, but after a few minutes, I was "fuck it".
He did ask me if I believe in God, and I flatly said "no". I must have come across as meaning it, because that was the end of that conversation, oddly.
But it was a bad night in a cramped car with no restroom access like Greyhound has, for almost 200 miles, with Jehovah's Witnesses, who did not listen to my needs. Not a happy memory, but one that sticks with me.
But OTOH, I have happy memories of concerts as a tweenager, and trips to my local speedway. I listen to different types of music now, and I'm not obsessive with auto racing as I was as a kid. But still, those things made me feel good. So that's a positive.
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 5:09 pm
I'd probably be embarrassed for a very long time, had not my parents been showing our family album to every single guest that shows up, so now I guess I'd just look for a way to get selective amnesia or just move on...
Quote:To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty.
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 5:30 pm
I'd probably actually be able to function normally and have a normal emotional life.
When I wasn't having panic attacks or feeling angry about stuff. I'd say overall I'd be more functional. I've been through some bad shit but I have a lot of good memories too and a lot of my dysfunctionality is due to my being too much in the moment, I reckon. I'd probably be a lot more organized if I didn't have such a shitty memory.
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RE: What would you do if you could remember every single moment in your life?
October 13, 2017 at 5:35 pm
I wish I were more in the moment, really. I latch onto memories that counterbalance other memories of the same event or time (like, my good morning in Hershey leading up to the soccer match in Hbg).
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan
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