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Comment by siavosh | Hacker News Reader

Related, does this happen to anyone else: you're going about your day, then a random memory comes to you? My theory is something subtle/unconscious makes me remember it (something I saw or felt). I asked my wife if it happens to her, but she said no. Happens to me a few times a week.

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I get this semi-frequently, though almost exclusively those with negative emotions attached to them. It has either contributed to, been the cause of, or an effect of (or combination) chronic depression for over half of my life now.

Between medication and some therapy, I'm stable and high functioning, though I feel like I'm always one traumatic experience away from losing it.

I wish I could donate my active brain to science as it feels like there is clearly something not quite well adjusted about it, but alas, I'm still using it (most of the time anyway).

Thank you for sharing. What's odd is usually my memories are kind of banal. I think it's emotional triggered, like how I felt during that stage of my life, but even that's kind of a stretch for me. I'm sweeping my yard, and all of a sudden a memory I had from 20 years ago of me in a subway station comes to me. Maybe it's the heat of the day and the heat of the subway, and their memories are stored close to each other in my neurons and a stray electrical impulse activated it...just wild speculation.

I'm pretty sure this happens to most people. Based on what? Nothing but intuition honestly. Perhaps your wife isn't as interested in metathinking.

The brain (mine anyways) is constantly coming up with new solutions and occasionally recalls irrelevant things in its search for answers...

Yep, happens to me all the time. Since introducing psychedelics into my life I’ve been able to gain more awareness of this and can usually trace things back to what triggered the memory. Like a smell, or a food, music, or a pile of mail/clutter sitting on the counter, an advertisement, etc. I’ve been on a declutter/organization mission lately to help mitigate this. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

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