One of the curiousities of human memory is that childhood, for most people, is largely lost. I think I'm not atypical in having a few memories I suspect are genuine, another set based on what I've been told, and mostly no memory at all.
The assymetry between parent and child is one of the more poignant aspects of parenting; one party remembers much of a rather important relationship, the other remembers little.
Why do adults not retain childhood memories? Is there an adaptive advantage to forgetting, or is it simply a side-effect of the way the human brain develops?
3 comments:
I've noticed that as soon as someone has a child, they seem to forget what was to BE a child. Too bad really. Parenting skills would likely be better if they COULD remember. I'm a childless adult who often feels sorry for the child when I see him/her having to deal with a seemingly clueless parent...
I used to have more opinions about parenting skills before I became a parent.
I've often wondered about this phenomena since I don't share it. I remember my childhood with a gruesome vividity.
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