LogFAQs > #943560485

Zareth posted...

So how come I can remember the lyrics to dumb songs they made us sing in 1st grade but I can't remember any useful information?

Well, I mean for MOST people.

I can't really defend it in my own case either, considering I can hum the theme music from video games I last played 30-35 years ago, and can still remember exactly where items are or how to navigate mazes in some games I haven't played since George Bush (the first one) was President. And I can quote entire poetic verses from books like LotR, the Book of Lost Swords, or the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. And I can sing the entirety of "We Didn't Start the Fire" from start to finish.

On the other hand, I can't tell you off the top of my head when my niece's birthday is. Or how old she is.

But I think that's more a case of repetition burning channels into your brain so deep that even age can't erode them. Like, I probably heard the background music loops from Donkey Kong or Super Mario Bros or the early Final Fantasy games hundreds of thousands of times. And I actually spent a week or so deliberately memorizing every reference in "We Didn't Start the Fire" until I could sing it from memory, and it's kind of self-reinforcing (each reference leads directly to the next, so when you remember one it helps trigger the rest).

My memory used to be near-photographic, but it's definitely getting fuzzier as I get older. I've definitely noticed a difference over the last decade or so.
---

"Wall of Text'D!" --- oldskoolplayr76
"POwned again." --- blight family