[cpp_frog]

The moments captured in my images are fresh, but my perspective on them changes.

I am doing an experiment in memory and trying to memorize the name of every U.S. county, with the aid of a map. Several months in I can say that the brain inexorably will tie names together (wether by geographical proximity or etymology, e.g. Imperial-Riverside-San Diego or Redwood-Greenwood), and the addition of new names affects the perception of the ones before, or the perception of words which happen to be county names. I could write an entire essay on the limits of memory, but it would hardly be better than Jorge Luis Borges's story Funes, the memorius.

For anyone curious I can name 80% of U.S. counties with the aid of a blank map, and my geographic intuition has improved greatly. Every county (and county name) has a history attached to it, and sometimes when someone tells me where they grew up, I can guess their ancestry more or less, especially if they come from rural areas. It surprises them, sometimes even more when they know I'm not american.

[RobRivera]

Memory seems to be cemented when theres some type of value assigned to it, like a useful memory peg I find.

A major battle, a geomarker, usually there is SOMETHING noteworthy historical. I may not have put the labor into the volume of counties as you, but I've lived in so many places, and I index local histories of everywhere I live, and it cements so much.

Love the effort you put into testing your cognitive faculties!

[gravity2060]

This is fascinating. I’m working on a memory project and would really like to get in touch and hear your insights on limits and especially counters to interference with memorization. I’ll put my email in my profile; pure gratitude if you can spare some time to share your wisdom with me.