It's pretty wild. Quite often I'll have a conversation with my husband where he tells me that I've already told this story, or that I said or did something, but I'll have no memory of it. Not even a vague recollection once reminded.
Generally, the past doesn't exist. Or rather it exists in the same sort of hazy uncertainty that the future does. I do remember certain facts and events that my brain deemed important enough to commit to memory, but only as an abstract concept. My brain doesn't store past events in the same way that I experience them. There's no visual or sensory component, just raw facts and abstract ideas. There's usually no emotional component either.
> Is losing autobiographical memory inmediate, or could you remember a few seconds of what you see?
There's multiple levels to it. During some task or event, everything is available in working memory for up to a couple of hours. Basically it depends on mental focus keeping things in a single coherent state. Events not receiving active attention drop into a medium-term memory. They can last a few days depending on how impactful the events were, but generally things get cleared out during sleep.
Essentially it's the same way most people's memory works, it's just that the way the information is formatted is very different.
> Can you think in other languages?
My thinking doesn't really involve language unless I'm thinking about speech or writing specifically. But yes, other languages work the same way in my head.
It's one step removed from language. I tend to deal directly with the concept that a word represents. Ideas get converted to words as a post-processing step. Switching languages is pretty much just picking the word out of my French vocabulary instead of English. Formatting grammar works the same way, it's just rules and heuristics used to format data.
> Can you learn patterns like chess moves?
Yes, but not easily. Straight up memorizing an arbitrary sequence is pretty difficult. At one point I was actually really good at Rubik's cube solving, but it only took a few months of no practice for the rotation sequences to just evaporate from my brain. Games like Simon Says aren't any more or less difficult for me, as it's an isolated event trivially stored in working memory.
> What is your oldest memory?
Pretty typical, around 4 years old. I have very few memories of my childhood, but they're exceptionally vivid. They come closest to how I assume normal people experience memory. I remember seeing my mother at the stove and watching the pot boil, I remember what I was thinking and feeling.
> Can you suppose future events, like an accident about to happen?
I'd say I'm a bit above average at predicting events in the short term. I also tend to have pretty accurate gut instinct about the medium term.
> Do you have olfactory memory?
I recognize a smell if I've encountered it before, but I generally can't conjure a scent in my head. Memories almost never have scent included. However, the usual phenomenon of scent triggering a strong memory does work. Generally I'll remember qualities of a scent, it was harsh and acrid, soft and flowery. Same way other memories are reduced to a set of facts.
> Do you like any kind of puzzles? Can you follow or find thing with a map?
I like puzzles about as much as the average nerd.
I've always had a very good sense of direction. There's a little corner of my brain that's always aware of where I am relative to landmarks, or checks the sun to find north. To a pretty good approximation, I always know where north is. I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually felt lost. Though that specifically I think is just a habit I developed at a young age.
Generally, the past doesn't exist. Or rather it exists in the same sort of hazy uncertainty that the future does. I do remember certain facts and events that my brain deemed important enough to commit to memory, but only as an abstract concept. My brain doesn't store past events in the same way that I experience them. There's no visual or sensory component, just raw facts and abstract ideas. There's usually no emotional component either.
> Is losing autobiographical memory inmediate, or could you remember a few seconds of what you see?
There's multiple levels to it. During some task or event, everything is available in working memory for up to a couple of hours. Basically it depends on mental focus keeping things in a single coherent state. Events not receiving active attention drop into a medium-term memory. They can last a few days depending on how impactful the events were, but generally things get cleared out during sleep.
Essentially it's the same way most people's memory works, it's just that the way the information is formatted is very different.
> Can you think in other languages?
My thinking doesn't really involve language unless I'm thinking about speech or writing specifically. But yes, other languages work the same way in my head.
It's one step removed from language. I tend to deal directly with the concept that a word represents. Ideas get converted to words as a post-processing step. Switching languages is pretty much just picking the word out of my French vocabulary instead of English. Formatting grammar works the same way, it's just rules and heuristics used to format data.
> Can you learn patterns like chess moves?
Yes, but not easily. Straight up memorizing an arbitrary sequence is pretty difficult. At one point I was actually really good at Rubik's cube solving, but it only took a few months of no practice for the rotation sequences to just evaporate from my brain. Games like Simon Says aren't any more or less difficult for me, as it's an isolated event trivially stored in working memory.
> What is your oldest memory?
Pretty typical, around 4 years old. I have very few memories of my childhood, but they're exceptionally vivid. They come closest to how I assume normal people experience memory. I remember seeing my mother at the stove and watching the pot boil, I remember what I was thinking and feeling.
> Can you suppose future events, like an accident about to happen?
I'd say I'm a bit above average at predicting events in the short term. I also tend to have pretty accurate gut instinct about the medium term.
> Do you have olfactory memory?
I recognize a smell if I've encountered it before, but I generally can't conjure a scent in my head. Memories almost never have scent included. However, the usual phenomenon of scent triggering a strong memory does work. Generally I'll remember qualities of a scent, it was harsh and acrid, soft and flowery. Same way other memories are reduced to a set of facts.
> Do you like any kind of puzzles? Can you follow or find thing with a map?
I like puzzles about as much as the average nerd.
I've always had a very good sense of direction. There's a little corner of my brain that's always aware of where I am relative to landmarks, or checks the sun to find north. To a pretty good approximation, I always know where north is. I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually felt lost. Though that specifically I think is just a habit I developed at a young age.