Reeyo Posted December 13, 2012 Wadani;898014 wrote: Though i do think that an appreciative smirk was probably missing from our faces while we were living our lives in the past, I don't think it can always be attributed to the all too human tendency to romantisicze past experiences. It may be due to the simple fact that we don't appreciate the good we have until it's gone. As life goes on it often becomes more complicated, mundane and our choices have bigger and more serious consequences, and it's in those moments where we come face to face with lifes toils that we reminisce and become nostalgic for a time when things were objectively much simpler, and happiness, however fleeting, less elusive. I agree, most of us live in the past alot more then the present and we appreciate the good when it's gone. I always get that silly happy feeling when I remember certain times with friends and places that I didn't really think much off at the time. Being nostalgic cannot possibly be objective, it is always personal and only makes sense to you why that memory makes you feel a certain way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alpha Blondy Posted January 29, 2013 interesting question. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QansaxMeygaag Posted January 30, 2013 SeeKer;898010 wrote: Perhaps but then does it merit the question why we do it and if we can exploit this ability? If we as humans can manipulate our memory stores then can one say guard or break into someone's memory stores and tell a different version of their history? Make our enemies into friends or vice versa? I don't mean to jump down the rabbit hole but the possibilities are endless in what one can do once they break into your memory banks don't you think? Plenty of studies show the memory is malleable and can be falsified easily, yet most of us would believe a witness on the stand saying she saw so and so shoot a man especially if collaborated by another witness. What then separates a true memory from a false one, or are all memories a false construct? Isn't corroboration by other witnesses proof that what happened really happened and is not the imagination of just one person? You are right - humans have selective amnesia, especially when the past is not altogether a happy one. We tend to do the old "accentuate the positive eliminate the negative" jingle...If you take this to its logical conclusion, it explains why folks run mad when something terrible happens. Your mind just can't deal with it so it just shuts down. I am talking of an otherwise healthy person here, minus any genetic predisposition. We know of course madness runs in families... Also people are different. Some are sentimental and kinda romantic - others just get on with it. We tried inheriting our dead father's house an am like "sell the damned house and let's split the money" and some of my siblings think am stark raving mad for having the audacity to say that because the old house has a lot of sentimental value for them. Am not saying I don't have a sentimental/romantic bone in my body, just that it is a spectrum and on a sliding scale some tilt towards the 100% and others towards the 0% or thereabout. Also, sentiment is "situational", images of happier times usually come when we are sad and want things to get better. If you are having a ball, it is unlikely you will be attached to moth-eaten shirt of a long-dead uncle... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
somalee Posted January 30, 2013 For me it's not just about reminiscing a past that seemed happy but there's something about the past that makes me wanna go back.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted January 30, 2013 QansaxMeygaag;914028 wrote: Also people are different. Some are sentimental and kinda romantic - others just get on with it. We tried inheriting our dead father's house an am like "sell the damned house and let's split the money" and some of my siblings think am stark raving mad for having the audacity to say that because the old house has a lot of sentimental value for them. Am not saying I don't have a sentimental/romantic bone in my body, just that it is a spectrum and on a sliding scale some tilt towards the 100% and others towards the 0% or thereabout. Also, sentiment is "situational", images of happier times usually come when we are sad and want things to get better. If you are having a ball, it is unlikely you will be attached to moth-eaten shirt of a long-dead uncle... Qansax, you must be a psychology/social sciences student, those tend to be my thoughts too. I was too nostalgic even as a child and in good times and generally very sentimental (vacations, sega megadrive, get esp. attached to people too etc). It has good sides and inconvenient ones too, I guess difference is needed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QansaxMeygaag Posted January 30, 2013 Abu-Salman;914058 wrote: Qansax, you must be a psychology/social sciences student, those tend to be my thoughts too. I was too nostalgic even as a child and in good times and generally very sentimental (vacations, sega megadrive, get esp. attached to people too etc). It has good sides and inconvenient ones too, I guess difference is needed. True dat - difference makes life fun. I can't imagine all my siblings being like me, goodness gracious; life would be truly and utterly boring. I am not a trained psychologist/social science student, but I am fascinated by the human mind and any subject area that touches on human life and how humans organize themselves - psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, etc - naturally fascinates me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted January 30, 2013 So you are neither student of humanities nor sentimental idealist but captivated by social sciences theories? I guess you are one of the few ecclectic people that may be programmer or chef but well-versed in history or poetry afficionados; it's interesting to be curious of fields way outside your own instead of usual foot/fadhi-ku-dirir hobbies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QansaxMeygaag Posted January 30, 2013 Abu-Salman;914078 wrote: So you are neither student of humanities nor sentimental idealist but captivated by social sciences theories? I guess you are one of the few ecclectic people that may be programmer or chef but well-versed in history or poetry afficionados; it's interesting to be curious of fields way outside your own instead of usual foot/fadhi-ku-dirir hobbies. Couldn't have said it better myself! I embrace the Islamic concept of knowledge in a holistic way; for me, I read and study anything and everything that interests me, I don't compartmentalize knowledge, anything that looks benefiting, I go for it! Eclectic is the best term to describe me - I like that. Even my taste in music and other ordinary/every-day things is eclectic! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted January 30, 2013 Qansax, we share a key trait then, I've seen eclectic bros lately live and that was quite refreshing (thought it was very rare for Somalis); even as a kid I was much more absorbed by Somali history, parents eco or health/children dvpt books than school things. I wouldn't be surprised you were gifted/effortlessly good at school or learning too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CyberNinja Posted January 31, 2013 Nostalgia is never a problem for those who never look back. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QansaxMeygaag Posted January 31, 2013 Abu-Salman;914215 wrote: Qansax, we share a key trait then, I've seen eclectic bros lately live and that was quite refreshing (thought it was very rare for Somalis); even as a kid I was much more absorbed by Somali history, parents eco or health/children dvpt books than school things. I wouldn't be surprised you were gifted/effortlessly good at school or learning too. Best student, top of the class, every teachers pet, from dugsi to school, the whole shebang. That was me...first to dart out of the house at the crack of dawn for school unlike my older brother who had to be dragged out of bed, literally! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted January 31, 2013 Well, you just described me, both dugsi macalin and teachers were fond of me, hooyo recently reminded me how they all liked me at school meetings. One funny thing was my geo/history French high school teacher, he barely believed how I anticipated him even in his pet areas (lignite mining in ex RDA etc), still kept his praising notes. Only and worst inconvenient was choosing majors at uni... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QansaxMeygaag Posted January 31, 2013 Abu-Salman;914388 wrote: Well, you just described me, both dugsi macalin and teachers were fond of me, hooyo recently reminded me how they all liked me at school meetings. One funny thing was my geo/history French high school teacher, he barely believed how I anticipated him even in his pet areas (lignite mining in ex RDA etc), still kept his praising notes. Only and worst inconvenient was choosing majors at uni... This is getting very interesting! are you sure you are not my alter ego? Lol. The hardest thing in Uni was a chemistry unit called "nuclear magnetic resonance" (a technique used to identify molecules, you literally have to think in 3D to understand it) and I aced it. When the whole class was collecting 10%, I had 90%! I keep in touch with my teacher of that subject to this day, thinks am some sort of a genius! Because I was good at all the subjects, also had the same problems of choosing subjects, all of them wanted me to go their way...very difficult choices... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Abu-Salman Posted January 31, 2013 Well, if you can ace physical chemistry or abstract algebra...my other siblings are great in science/maths/IT but not fully ecclectic and similarly effortless accross all subjects (the elder was congratuled by his Uni and was early into programming, using our Ti83 in high school for games coding; the younger one is more curious though; scientifically ever gifted he's got 2 masters with Enac in Toulouse). I had a shot at eng. prepa classes too but then switched into uni, moved back and stayed in Africa etc...in retrospect, it's a kind of mixed blessing even though there is much more to life and choices than intellectual curiosity, ability or even intelligence however defined. There are many gifted people of all ages actually, some even ignoring it, some genius mechanically (great at engineering/cars etc without any formal education...at times noticed by experts to be sent to Japan or MIT etc like this old Somali chap of mine or a kid on TV in Sierra Leone). One thing is certain though, those are not guarantees for fulfillment...I think we will need to have a cuppa together in E. Africa a day Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
