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Comment by bitwize | Hacker News Reader

I have memories of my second birthday, of the kiddie pool I splashed in and the toy boat I played with in it. I remember the neighbors' kid Paul, that he was blonde, and that we each had a rubber ball. Mine had rainbow stripes on it, and Paul's was transparent green with silver shiny bits.

I remember sitting on my dad's shoulders and looking at the babies in the maternity ward when my sister was born.

I even have an infancy memory: closing my eyes and crying, confused as to where the sound was coming from.

These are not things I was told about. They're pictures in my mind. I don't have a very strong episodic memory of that time, but I do remember things from well before age 3, and it pisses me off when scientists say "that just doesn't happen". It's like when my first grade teacher, a Ph.D. candidate in education at the time, told me I hadn't learned things I damn well had learned, like how to read.

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Yup. Same.

I find this super interesting and its nice to hear others experience this too. My brother and I both seem to have very early memories, so I imagine it's something genetic.

I have recited very specific events to my parents that they were convinced I was too young to remember. How and where my crib was placed, how and where my diaper was changed. That time I pissed myself in the bookstore, etc. I also have very vivid memory of staring up at the ceiling from my crib in the middle of the night. While my heart was pounding, I wasn't crying, it was just this pure awareness that has stuck with him.

One of my craziest memories was the first time I went on a playdate without my parents. I was about 3 - maybe 4 years old. I was sitting with this kid I barely knew, and he turned up the music really loud and starting dancing. I started having what I would now classify as a "panic attack", but I wasn't necessarily "scared", instead it manifested more like a psychedelic experience. I remember closing my eyes and seeing dancing colors. I remember asking him "Jason, do you see the colors too". I was so confused. It wasn't until much later in life when I tried mushrooms that I put the pieces together and concluded I was experiencing synesthesia induced from hyper arousal.

not genetic

I'll throw another one in. I remember being in my crib and rearranging the padded multicolored half-height liner and climbing under the serpentine shape. I have a random memory from what I think is 1.5 years old walking around the kitchen as my great grandma cooked a rice vermicelli in chicken broth. I vividly remember the boy I thought of as my first best friend in daycare and a whole bunch of age 2 memories, like eating maruchan ramen and lucky charms at a private daycare (these were two products my immigrant family didn't purchase until far far later).

I swear I remember bits and pieces of my c-section, and then I have bits and pieces of my genital mutilation days later (without anesthesia, which is SOP). I remember the intense searing pain and inability to escape. The act really does a number, it is certainly an infliction of trauma.

I am so passionate about this crime I underwent and I implore anyone who thinks my passion to be misplaced here, to give me an honest two hours of your time and see this presentation given at Harvard by Eric Clopper: youtube watch?v=FCuy163srRc

Sex & Circumcision: An American Love Story by Eric Clopper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCuy163srRc

Thank you!

It's a default/habit of mine to not direct-link, carried over from other forums.

I have two memories that are similar to yours. One is from when my sister was born, and the other is of me crying in my crib, terrified for some reason. My sister is 2 years younger than me. I have two vivid snapshots in my head from those days. When I think about them, they each provide a 3-second vision of where I was, what I was doing, and how I felt during both instances. Each memory has different details, but the same overall tone.

Some people have memories in which they see themselves from a third person view. Not to say that your memories are false, but for scientific purposes, anecdotal evidence is probably even less trustworthy than experimentation in mice.

I once asked my then 3 year old niece some things about her 2nd year birthday party, and she seemed to remember some things correctly.

What do you think about the hypothesis that if you actively try to remember things, that memories are reinforced? Do you happen to know whether you repeatedly thought back of the toy boat etc, even when you were young?

Hypothesis makes sense

I have a third person memory as a child when a chip bag exploded in a restaurant, the memory is an aerial view. My imagined image was retained as an actual memory

My then two to three year old asked me questions about things that happened up to a year prior. Their memory was impressive.

I remember being in my crib and my older sister toddling by to interact with me. I remember the layout of the room, etc.

I remember a good bit of detail around specific events when I was 2 years old or so, as well as how I felt about them.

Like you, I also learned to read before going to school or being taught. I just figured it out.

There is absolutely something to the idea that some people develop cognitive capabilities earlier in life. I believe there is a correlation to intelligence, but it's not absolute.

I got into a back and forth last week here on HN with some who refused to believe someone could have an early memory. Apparently because they can't remember before kindergarten/first-grade, nobody can. It was bizarre. My first memory is at 18 months old. Many, many others report memories before ages 3-4. "No, not possible." Uh, why is that impossible? It just takes one to show it is possible

> These are not things I was told about. They're pictures in my mind.

I know you're right and I met someone like that. But it's highly uncommon. That person would remember both the look and the feel of her portable crib, back from she wasn't able to walk yet.

> ... and it pisses me off when scientists say "that just doesn't happen"

Same. It's utter bullshit. There are people like you, period.

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