What is an interesting fact about human memory

What is an interesting fact about human memory?

“He abused me so the three of you could be safe” — my voice trembled as I shared the dark memories with my sister.

She grabbed me, stretched her arms around my stomach and dampened my shoulder with her tears. “I'm sorry” she whimpered.

“Never apologise for somebody else's sick mind” I said. It didn't help, she continued to sob.

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I recalled the experiences as if I was reliving the flashback in the present moment. I remember where my siblings sat, what they were doing and what they were told. Fortunately, his face and his sad existence were all they could remember of him.

All I could think about in that moment was, “how can they not remember something so traumatic?”

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Now it makes sense…

Explicit memories require conscious recall and are associated with a time and place. Memories that are unconscious and not associated with a specific event are implicit.[1]

For example, your child remembering the tasty curry you cooked for them is explicit. Your child feeling happy when passing an Indian restaurant is implicit.

Kids begin forming explicit memories around the 2-year mark, but the majority are still implicit memories until about 7-years-old.[2]

When the abuse took place, I was 8–9 years old.

My siblings are younger than me by a few years.

Thankfully, they were too young to form the memories.

Age protected them from the trauma.