A few years back, 60 minutes did one of the most interesting stories they have ever done before about people who can seemingly remember every day of their life in vivid detail. It was a story on what is called Hyperthymesia, is described as “the condition of possessing an extremely detailed autobiographical memory. People with hyperthymesia remember an abnormally vast number of their life ... Individuals with hyperthymesia can recall almost every day of their lives in near perfect detail, as well as public events that hold some personal importance”.
There are only a handful of people that are actually verified to have this, what I would call, superpower. In the videos I have posted of part one and part two of the interviews below, you can see to what extent these amazing people can remember. For some reason the first thing that comes to mind when I think about them is Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs” talking about not being trapped in his cell because he has his memories.
To an extent these people could close their eyes and remember every moment of a vacation or lying on the hot sand by the ocean, in vivid detail. They could go on a vacation in their minds multiple times a day without ever leaving their room. This is truly a power many of us wish we could have. Their experience and what they pull out of life, potentially has much more value than what most of us experience on a daily basis. Doing something small but enjoyable can be experienced over and over again. However, that being said, it could be a double edge sword.
Although they don’t go over it in the interview, what if one of these people had a tragic occurrence in their life, for example they lost a child. They essentially would be haunted by that memory everyday an unable to move past it like the majority of us can. Perhaps there is a reason why we shouldn’t remember everything that happens to us. Maybe we evolved in order to forget things because the majority of life is tough.
Would you want the ability to remember like these people, or do you think it would be too much of a burden? I personally think these people have superhuman abilities and would love to see what a study of them would reveal about their brains. Maybe in the future with some sort of computer assistance, we too would be able to attain such powers.