Why can’t we remember being born or our first words?

Re:Why can’t we remember being born or our first words? by kgeist on Monday June 13, 2022 @03:01AM (#31722165)

I also wonder how much of what we remember is false memories. For example, I vividly remember my first steps when I was around 1 year old. But the details don't match what actually happened. It happened in a different house, for example. I think what actually happened is that my parents loved to tell this story every birthday of mine, I imagined how it might look like, and my brain formed a false memory. I read somewhere that a lot of what we remember is false memory (made up or distorted) and we are completely unaware of it.

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Re:Why can’t we remember being born or our first words? by mikeywazowski on Monday June 13, 2022 @03:53AM (#31722496)

When I was little, my older brothers repeatedly told me that I'd pushed over a motorbike one day. I eventually believed them and formed a vivid memory of the incident, and it wasn't til my 21st birthday that my brothers came clean. 15 years later, I still have some recollection of pushing the motorbike over, but I think it's more like a memory of a memory now, since I know it didn't really happen.

I don't think I'm particularly prone to suggestion (although I was young at the time). I feel like if it can happen to me, it must happen to other people also, and I too wonder how much of what we remember is false memories.

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Re:Why can’t we remember being born or our first words? by eurasiantiger on Monday June 13, 2022 @05:28AM (#31723035)

That’s straight up gaslighting.

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Re:Why can’t we remember being born or our first words? by Doxin on Tuesday June 14, 2022 @07:39AM (#31737629)

Yes. Children can be (unintentional) little shits. I could go on for hours about all the shit me and my brothers did to each other much worse than just gaslighting.

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Re:Why can’t we remember being born or our first words? by unsafecast on Monday June 13, 2022 @06:48AM (#31723582)

When I was in kindergarten, I can't know how old I was, I clearly remember going to the window in our apartment and seeing my grandmother looking up at me, so I jumped and she caught me.

Obviously not a true memory. I remember remembering it, and that feels weird, because I don't actually remember it happening anymore (saying that makes me realize that the false memory is either me remembering that, or me remembering remembering that). I think it came from a weird dream.

It may have something to do with my mother telling me not to go near the window because I could fall. My grandmother used to visit us there a lot too, and I liked that. The brain is super weird.

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