Strange Things You Remember

I realized while loafing on my sofa over my morning coffee that my brain is litterally packed full of useless junk. I can remember a plethora of things that seemed important at the time I committed them to memory, but are utterly useless to me now. For example, I know that the Army Technical Manual that covers the maintenance of a HMMWV is TM9-2320-280-10, unless you need to do something more complex than operator maintenance, and then it's TM9-2320-280-20&P.

It's too bad I don't know any way to purge the useless information, because I just know it's taking up memory that could better be occupied by more important things.

I've always had a decent long-term memory. My earliest memory is from when I was about 10 months old. People think I'm crazy when they hear this, but it's true. In fact, when I was 4, I levied an accusation at my mother (another conversation I remember as vividly as what I had for lunch): "Why didn't you tell me I was blind when I was born?" Obviously, she was a bit nonplussed at this statement, so she asked me why I would think that. I explained that I couldn't remember seeing anything from that young, therefore I knew I must have been blind. If could have seen, I would remember it. I didn't realize that not everyone could remember all the tiny details.

It's an interesting thing to have memories that precede language abilities. Looking back on the experience of being an infant through the eyes of an adult, it really helps me understand a lot about communication, and the human thought process. Because I didn't have language at that age, everything was abstract, thus my thought process followed abstract patterns. For example, I remember seeing my mother, but my thoughts were not "mother", or what a mother represents. Rather, my thoughts were an association with the feelings I attached to my mother: safety, warmth, comfort, etc.

I can also remember getting upset at being put in my crib for a nap. I didn't feel like "tired", I felt like "lonely", and I wanted someone to come pick me up. Oddly enough, my mom remembers this too (although perhaps not the specific incident) so she was able to puzzle out my age by the description I gave of the room my crib was in.

Don't misunderstand me - I don't have a photographic memory, and I forget things just like everybody else (just ask my wife). I simply seem to have an unusual ability for recalling very early memories. I always thought it would be a great advantage to have a photographic memory, though. Being able to memorize technical books would certainly be more helpful than being able to enumerate the emotions of a 10-month-old.