No, they just have faulty memories of it that are heavily influenced by their later recallings of it. Reminiscing about it often will color it with beliefs and understandings that they didn’t have originally, making them even more inaccurate than more recent ones. For example, my current memories of reading and watching Harry Potter are all sour, even though they were probably quite positive at the time.
On the other hand, if one never actively recalls something, the memory is more likely to be pruned into mere fragments or lost forever. However, having no memory of childhood probably has more to do with the brain actively suppressing conscious recollection.
Regardless, even things we no longer remember still cause ripples in how we think. The memory might be gone, but the understandings and skills we gained still remain. We don’t remember learning to talk, but that time was very influential on how we use language for the rest of our lives.
No, they just have faulty memories of it that are heavily influenced by their later recallings of it. Reminiscing about it often will color it with beliefs and understandings that they didn’t have originally, making them even more inaccurate than more recent ones. For example, my current memories of reading and watching Harry Potter are all sour, even though they were probably quite positive at the time.
On the other hand, if one never actively recalls something, the memory is more likely to be pruned into mere fragments or lost forever. However, having no memory of childhood probably has more to do with the brain actively suppressing conscious recollection.
Regardless, even things we no longer remember still cause ripples in how we think. The memory might be gone, but the understandings and skills we gained still remain. We don’t remember learning to talk, but that time was very influential on how we use language for the rest of our lives.