WRW - Selective Memory

I don’t quite remember many of the events of my childhood – and often don’t remember things that have happened quite recently.  I often have to rely on the recollection of others who were there with me.  This has always puzzled me, and continues to. 

It’s not as if I don’t have a good memory.  I have an excellent memory for things external to my own existence – particularly objective facts.  In the study, and to a lesser degree, the practice of engineering, this type of memory served me well.  And I’m a dangerous competitor when watching Jeopardy – and can occasionally run entire categories.  And I am just flat dangerous with games like Trivial Pursuit.  But ask me where I went to breakfast yesterday, what I had, or who I was with, and I can often be hit-or-miss. 

My brothers and sisters know this well about me, and use it to their advantage when recounting occurrences from our childhood.  Sometimes they do this in fun, knowing I am somewhat hobbled in my ability to counter their version of events; and unfortunately, this is sometimes not so much in fun – and I am likewise not fully able to defend myself against accusations of an infraction they may say I committed forty-five years ago. 

This issue extends to names as well.  I’ve heard that for many people, their deepest fear is public speaking.  Not mine.  Though public speaking may tense me up a little, what terrifies me is introducing people to one another.  If I know I’m going to do that, I rehearse it, I memorize their names … even if I know them well, and I visualize pulling off the introduction correctly, and the incredible relief of not embarrassing myself, and (more importantly) not embarrassing somebody I know well, but whose name I forget when it matters most. 

I am candid about this with my friends.  Since I can’t be better than I am in this regard (though I continue to work on it), I at least mitigate the harm by forewarning people I care about, so that this may be an opportunity for humor, rather than humiliation. 

In my effort to understand this dichotomy between excellent trivia skills, and a poor memory for myself and those around me, I have wondered whether different types of memories are stored in different part of the brain.  Or is it a matter of focus?  Am I responding to early training, where I was praised and rewarded for intellectual prowess, but never spurred to develop these key skills that are such excellent social lubricants.  I don’t suppose I’ll even resolve the ‘nature or nurture’ question without an autopsy of my brain … and I’m not signing up, since I wouldn’t benefit from the new knowledge.