Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Superior Autobiographical Memory: Want it? Believe in it?
Nietzsche argues we might need to forget. Santayana asserts we need to remember. But how much? Watch the video below to learn more about “superior autobiographical memory,” an anomalous condition which affords a rare set of individuals the ability for almost “total recall.” Some revel in the ability, but for others it is an obstacle to their happiness.
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ReplyDeleteI've never heard of this before until now. I have seen things on something similar, where people have incredible memories due in part to practice, but never have I heard of it just coming naturally to people.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I would want this for myself, although it would be extremely helpful, I think that being able to forget things is something that really helps us in moving on and being happy. I also think it is really important when it comes to forgiving people which is almost key to a good relationships. And good relationships + a bunch of other stuff = happiness! Well, to me anyway!
I removed and reposted this because it had my name as a tag from a group blog.
I had seen this before and talked about with people. However, I never made the connection to Nietzsche. This is a perfect example of his argument. Although most of them have learned to cope with remembering the negative things, it has still impacted their lives. Plus they have the choose to let it impact their happiness (which one of them has). The ability to forget the bad things in life does help us move on from them and lead happy lives. Without this, the pain from a tragedy would always be fresh. And I think you are right Laura, forgetting and forgiving is key to any good relationship. I would like to see the rest of this segment when they talk about how this has impacted their relationships.
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