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[x2yzh9]

   So like, quick question..Um, anyway, I've talked to plenty of people that have memories of their early childhood. You know, like they could describe something that had happened in detail, maybe not a lot
of things but significant events, right? I mean, I havn't talked to many people about what they remember of their childhood. Here's my question though! Why do I remember basically nothing until a moment when I was 6, in a house that my parents had just bought, opening the microwave to look in it as I was curious. From then on the memories are spotty at first but pretty consistent through kindergarten and elementary school. Did I just develop long-term memory recognition like a year or two after the average? I'm just wondering, this is something I've thought about.

   For some more information: All I really remember was like, snapshot kind of memories. The very first one was.. In a like construction yard, or maybe just some like little lot my great-granddad had, I have no idea where it was but I was with my older but not oldest brother, who had a different dad. This was my maternal great-grandfather though, and he passed away apparently when I was like 4 or 5. He was playing with the dirt and we were there with him in the vehicle that lifted the machine, that he had worked with as part of his construction(I think) job. but, here's what I'm getting at with all this: Why are all my memories 'snapshot-like'? After the happy, playful construction yard one, it went to my father(who later when I was 12 died of cancer) chasing my as a small toddler, in a apparently playful way according to my mom, he would chase me. But what I remember is perceiving him as a monster chasing me. I guess that makes sense though, I was a child, but that's an example.

   Any responses would be appreciated. Have a good day and stay safe!

[Catmeat]

Memorys are strongest when they are powered by adrenaline, fear, happiness.
I have memorys from that age, getting pushed down our carpeted hallway in the laundry basket by my eldest brother, the stormy night when my father ousted a burgular, my first concussion, my second... I cant remember the third, bu I have the scar!!
I can then from these memorys of the age of... 4, map the rest of my life to this pathetic post to you.
Yes you are special, but your memory is normal.
If you really think you have a memory gift, try training it with help from others.

Also you percieving of Father as a monster is for your mental development, you knew he wasnt going to attack you, you just needed to know what to do when somebody does.

War

[Shook]

I'm pretty sure it's normal to have spotty "snapshot-like" memory from early childhood, and basically no memory from babyhood. My earliest memory dates back to when i was like 2 or 3, but as you say, it's basically just a snapshot. Our brains aren't fully developed by that point, which would probably explain the spottiness, but as Catmeat says, strong memories are usually linked to strong emotions (and, curiously enough, smell). Sitting in a couch while feeling content is unlikely to become a vivid memory, whereas sitting in a couch while witnessing a brutal murder is likely to haunt you for a LONG time. I have NO idea why those few decent-but-otherwise-unremarkable memories get stored, though. You know that earliest memory i talked about? It's basically just a picture of the playground in the nursery, without any emotions attached. I remember that it's blue and aquamarine in colour and has a slide, but why do i remember that? Maybe that's just how first memories work. Maybe your brain just goes like "oi i learned something new let's try that shit!" and then whatever you have in sight becomes a memory forever. It certainly SEEMS like that, anyways. :v

[Flying Dice]

Yep, that's my early childhood memories as well. Earliest are 2-3, they don't move on beyond snapshots until 3-4.

[Djohaal]

Snapshot memory until 6 years (more or less) is the usual development of human memory. If someone claims they have consistent memories from when they were a baby or a toddler, neuroscience states that they must be lying, or unconsciously generated those memories. Except for the rare case of people with superhumanly good memory (and even in those cases I'm not totally sure they do remeber it all the way back to being a baby)

[Erkki]

I have some snapshot-like memories, of both vision and hearing, from when I was 2. Just 4... maybe 5 though.

From age 4 and 5 I can remember surprisingly much, I believe the brain still goes some major physical development before that point which is why you just don't remember much years later.

[x2yzh9]

Memorys are strongest when they are powered by adrenaline, fear, happiness.
I have memorys from that age, getting pushed down our carpeted hallway in the laundry basket by my eldest brother, the stormy night when my father ousted a burgular, my first concussion, my second... I cant remember the third, bu I have the scar!!
I can then from these memorys of the age of... 4, map the rest of my life to this pathetic post to you.
Yes you are special, but your memory is normal.
If you really think you have a memory gift, try training it with help from others.

Also you perceiving of Father as a monster is for your mental development, you knew he wasnt going to attack you, you just needed to know what to do when somebody does.

War

   Hm, how would I go about training it? I have a somewhat 'immersive' memory. If I focus on a topic hard enough and really, really apply myself I can usually, well for example when I was in elementary and middle school, I literally read the curriculum schoolbooks they made us read and log ridiculously fast and made 90-95 or above on the US grading system scale for primary schools, which is like A-A+. I also made this in Freshman year but I had horrible grades originally but my finals, I had studied for ridiculously hard and ended up getting 95 or above on my finals and my state exam test which boosted all my grades up to A or A+ from C+ and in-between B grades. And in middle school, they gave us an simple 7th grade algebraic equation which while obviously simple was rather lengthy. It took up the whole board. So, for some reason, kind of makes me laugh now though but I didn't even write anything. I just memorized everything on the board, stared into space, and made a visual construct which eventually led to me getting the answer. I was the first. The teacher came up and was obviously shocked and said she had no idea how I did that. I also did that other times.


P.S.   
   Well I am a visual learner and, if I focus hard enough, am able to quite literally visualize a complex shape, geometric pattern, what have you in my head and(if I had any artistic ability, which I don't, haha, but surprisingly it may be a learned skill as I was able to write fairly straight and narrow with my eyes closed on a piece of paper in high school) I could hypothetically draw the visualization out but It'd be very inaccurate I'm sure. I don't know, now that I think about it I could totally be an architect...maybe.

   Thank you all for your responses, I appreciate it. Feel free to ask questions or continue the conversation, amongst each other. If you'd like a poll, just ask.

[TheBiggerFish]

Well this is neat.

[Antioch]

Something funny about my earliest memories is that I don't really know any more if I am actually remembering them or that I am remembering remembering them.

[Dozebôm Lolumzalìs]

Yeah, before the age of 8, even, all I have is memories of memories.

I might have a single memory that's not a memory-memory from when I was very young. I was eating yogurt in a tube, sitting outside my DPNS school.

That's all.

Quite weird.