Email or username:

Password:

Forgot your password?
Top-level
Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

This "memory measured by significant events" system could also explain why 2016 can feel so *longer* ago, despite being relatively recent.

There were MANY of significant events in 2016. But our experience suggests that such events are typically spread over longer periods

/5

3 comments
Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

Basically, your brain's memory system may be saying "What's happened since 2016... WOAH! That's a LOT. That must have occurred over a really long period, because that's how things work!"

I mean, it's *wrong*, but you can see the reasoning.

/6

Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

Contrast that with how most people can barely remember the COVID pandemic. The most significant, anxiety-inducing event of the modern era, that lasted nearly 2 years? And people *don't remember it*? How does that make sense?

But it does, actually.

/7

Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

Basically, while the pandemic was *objectively* very significant, it was *subjectively* very dull. Same routine, same place, no standalone external events, for months on end?

Our brains lacked significant experiences to commit to memory, and thus log the passage of time.

/8

Go Up