I’m 56 and find that my long term memory is sometimes better than my short term memory.

The way memory works, your brain constructs the memory based on stuff from the last time you thought about it, mixed with other random shit.

You’re never remembering “the” event. You’re retelling yourself a story like a game of telephone. The past is gone.

44 and can remember lots about what I did as a 3-4 year old including first day at kindy and school, Christmases etc. phone numbers, birthdays, dates and everything. Can recall much of my time throughout my teens and 20s too.

Don’t ask me what I did last weekend though. Time goes much faster as you get older (perceptively) and I don’t feel different but know I’m getting older because I’m watching my kids grow up into (mostly) functional humans.

I’m an old fucker and can remember my earliest memories still. You have to do it though, because memories become less clear over time if unused. Unfortunately, we spend less time recalling memories because of our current over-stimulation in this entertainment rich world. Most of us do not let ourselves be bored (almost ever) now.

Tonight I played a game I hadn’t played since the early 90’s and just the graphics and sounds really brought back nostalgic feelings.

Keep your memories by recalling them frequently. Every time you remember something, you make a new copy in your brain. Recalling memories is like making a backup. I’m 45 and I still remember things from as early as 3. I remember the feeling of the orange shag carpet in the house I grew up on my toes. I remember going down a waterslide on my uncle’s lap and my cousin teaching me how to ride a bike. I remember the feeling of bass in my stomach when the marching band practiced across the street. Keep recalling your memories.

My dad almost died recently (he got better). The experience lead to several vivid memories from my childhood resurfacing. Memories I forgot I forgot. I would have remembered them if I had a reason to I think, but I had no reason to and so I didn’t until then.

It also made me realise that while previously I thought of my life as a continuous experience, I now feel like there’s a gap in there somewhere. The child me and the present me are separated my more than just time filled with stuff. And there may be more gaps, breaking my life into even smaller pieces now that I think about it.

It’s all still in threre, I don’t think I’ve really forgotten anything, but I don’t have a reason to remember a lot of stuff from the past so I just don’t.

I’m almost 50 and I remember a lot of my childhood. I remember riding in a car with my mother down the main street in town and not being able to read signs. So like 1983-84. I remember a bunch of other things from that far back. Sights, sounds, feelings. More the later you go. A lot of the late 80s and beyond.

I don’t and I’m 30. Almost anything before the age of 7 and quite little between 7 and 14.

But AFAIK most people do remember quite some stuff from their childhood for the rest of their life. And forget some of course. I guess it varies.

You start your life by forgetting your past. All the times you fell over, were hungry or overtired, or shat your pants as a baby or toddler. You don’t remember that time unless something happened that’s traumatizing in the extreme. Somewhere between that age and when you start school you start retaining memories. Not all of them but enough to reminisce. You’re growing still so every day is a new experience and not everything makes the cut. And then you age. Once you cross 40 you’ll notice a lot more that you cannot remember why you went to the garage but you can remember all the teachers from your elementary school days. Most of your classmates too but that guy’s name in Accounting who you talk to every other day is nowhere to be found. And when you reach an age where death is becoming likely every day, you reminisce and you remember lots of stuff from ages ago but not what you had for breakfast. Dementia fucks with you but they remember their moody teenage music tastes and react more to that than their own offspring.

Memory retention is not a linear thing.

My 90yo grandmother tells me stories of her childhood all the time. Her earliest memories are of when she was around 2-3yo, and she absolutely hasn’t lost her sense of self at all. She’s sharp as a tack, honestly. I think it just really depends on the person

I’m 39…there are some things that I remember vividly, some cloudy and most I just don’t know

I spent a lot of time with my grandfather in his final days, and he was hitting me with stories from when he was like 4-on. A lot of good memories and a lot of bad memories.

I’m 31 and remember a ton from my childhood. Which makes sense bc I have to remind myself that I’m a grown man and not a kid in social situations all the time. (like when I have to go to my child’s school and my brain flips where I’m overly respectful to the teachers and almost raise my hand to speak to them)

My wife had a rough childhood and can barely remember anything from those years due to mental blocks I guess.

Tldr idk it depends I guess

it seems like they mostly remember the ‘vibe’ along with some hazy memories. kinda unrelated to OP but my grandparents started showing me AI generated pics/vids claming it’s “just like his childhood”…

Like usual with us humans and our fickle minds, YMMV.

There are many factors that can impact this, though I would clarify - you aren’t losing memories, they’re there, just harder to access. You aren’t losing your sense of self, it’s evolving - who you are as a person is constantly changing.

For me personally, as someone with aphantasia I’ve never really been in touch with my memories in the first place. I’ve been very much a “in the moment” person - despite that my past experiences do define me, even if I don’t know why.

Yes, yes and yes…