One of the Most Unsettling Phenomena of the Human Brain 

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“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

My wife, the love of my life had a brain injury that inhibits making new memories while she also lost a great deal of the old. She was 50 then, I’m her full time caregiver now for the last 8 years and have learned so much from this extremely difficult journey. The biggest take away I can share with anyone is to live in the present, nothing else really matters. Our days are filled with Love, good music, laughter (having a sense of humor is a must) and never taking anything too serious is the key to our happiness. To say we take time to stop and smell the roses is really an understatement, living in the moment is our life, we see roses everywhere now. I feel very blessed to have been given the ability to understand finally what is really important and how precious life truly is. ❤️ Be kind to each other.

it is said that some of your best days, you have yet to experience. A sad counterpoint to that is some of your best days, you've already forgotten

I am not afraid of death as much as I am afraid of dementia. It's horrifying to me to still be alive yet what I will have built all my life to be dead.

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.”--George Carlin

I did a semester of clinicals in a memory care unit while studying music therapy. It was crazy seeing how people’s bodies would change when they listened to a favorite song: their hands would relax and stop looking like claws, their shoulders and cheeks would soften and they’d look younger, their eyes would lose that glazed look, and faint smiles would replace the usual grimace. Memory loss is such a difficult fate but there are ways to retain what makes us who we are. A lot of that really boils down to creating a strong sense of self before the dementia starts to disintegrate reality.

everytime i'm living a good moment, the first thing that pops in my head is "damn... i can't believe i'm going to forget that". what i fear most is not forgetting because some sickness or advanced age, but getting my memories lost in between the business of daily life. i'm relief that today it's very easy to take pictures, record videos and things like that

Journaling took the fear of dementia for me. Assuming I'm still able to find the notebooks, I can read about lost memories, and I hope I'll still be able to trust myself that this really happened.

Because it’s so easy to forget or misremember past events I have this odd fear of accidentally not developing as a person or randomly not being myself anymore.

0:50 neither… i love forgetting things, people, ex’s, embarrassing moments, money lost, etc.. I think that’s part of the beauty of life… we naturally filter out the forgettable shit

Although my mother passed from Alzheimer's & Covid in 2021, my "real" mom passed away much earlier than that. I've always considered her death to be a sort of blessing. Not for me but for her. It is the most insidious disease.

What sucks most about dementia is not knowing for sure if it's real, or just regular forgetfulness.

I like your channel because it makes me feel like I am not weird, there are other people who think like me and have those questions about life always spinning in their heads. thank you

I’d rather die than slowly lose myself

I've become a hoarder because of memories. I will keep things that I deem valuable to me whatever it is, Movies, photos, items songs. I would save it in multiple hard drives and storage, I will photocopy any photos and hide any item I deem "important" because I want to remember how it felt in that moment. In my head throwing or losing those things away are basically me losing bits and parts of myself away.

It's sad but we're forgetting every day

my mom was diagnosed with dementia this winter. she’s still herself most of the time but the small sense of absence is in her

"Feel the dread flow through you." - Pursuit of Wonder. Seriously, I prefer to know about what might be coming than to be ignorant of it. Ignorance is not bliss, it's hell.

I like how the name of the video and the thumbnail change every few hours to simulate the feeling of dementia. I can remember clearly the title of the video being "the fear of forgetting" and the thumbnail being a red head being open hlafway

My grandfather had Alzheimer’s. He forgot my name a lot but his essence was still there. He was a great man. Even though he had difficulties remembering who I was he still showed me kindness.

i cant pour into text how much i love this channel and its content! as a young person, you really helped me reach a deep way of thinking and supported the development of my ability to truely understand and analyze human emotion. i have always had an interest in psychology and philosophy, and this channel really makes me find different ways of thinking! thank you!

Sometimes I remember that I lost my mind and I get upset.

It scaries me to realize that i'm slowly remembering that i had these symptons, feeling the time taking everything very slowly. Your histories area unique! Every video a emotional journey. Great work!

As an psych RN another theory has drilled itself into my brain about dementia - an individual’s memories are intact but they’re an unable to call them forward and connect them, or express them properly - verbally or physically. That is the frustration that many people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia demonstrate with bouts of aggression, it’s a locked in claustrophobia of the self and the exterior…it’s that they cannot express what they’re feeling. To me that frustration is a more horrible diagnosis than just forgetting…

Sometimes, I remember that I have memories but can't remember how they felt.. I've become amnesiac.

The beautiful thing about life is that while it takes us forward, we must also answer to the past that shaped us. Its as if the past and the present are happening all at once

the pursuit of wonder is like the positive version of moon similar style of presentation sounding radically differently

Better to be remembering that you forget than forgetting to remember

This is currently my most favourite video on this channel. The music, the video, the script. Just wonderful. I felt the video so much and enjoyed the journey.

It's fine, you're not human enough if you're not forgetting things

The mind in general, including the memories, is something that I feel the "historical materialism" ignores completely. It is the factor that provides the subjectivity. In my view, the "historical materialism" is an attempt to empty each individual subjectivity, so they could accept an objective truth, making them submissive to an authority. Really good video.

I had a memory from when I was seven. What it was is not important. (I will say it was neither physical nor sexual abuse). I held this memory for over 30 years. It made me sad, angry, and confused. Then, I discovered it was a false memory. However, my emotional response was not a falsehood. I felt these things. How does one rectify 'real' emotions with something that never happened? It would mean my emotions were real, but also false, insofar as I created the emotions connected to the false memory.

"a good friend once told me we are memory. without them, we equal nothing" -M. Shadows

Your videos are so thought provoking. Love it!

I love this narrator...His voice brings just the right of amount of intensity and then,....falls soft, with such a satiating timing. ☘️💚

Thank you sir! I look forward to all your videos 😊

Amazing content. Love this channel, your insights and the clear and direct way you deliver everything. It's just brilliant!

Such a thrilling, sobering, haunting video. Thank you thank you thank you! Just shared this with three people I love.

That parabel opened up a completely different way to think of dementia. And I worked as a nurse in a retirement facility

I was drinking with some friends and I blacked out (for the first and hopefully last time since now I'll always put a stop after some drinks) after falling asleep, but they say I woke up did stuff and just kept falling asleep and waking up and they have pictures etc told me what I did, and for me i was just tired, sat down fell asleep for only one time and the next second i woke up on bed, hearing what I did from them but not recalling it even in the faintest, it's just weird, maybe that's what sleepwalkers feel like when they're told about what they did at night, at least my friends and the me I don't recall had a good time, to me it was just a second, we were partying but I got sleepy, then awake in bed, will it be I'm dying then a second later I forgot everything and I'm somewhere, something else, being born again or dk, anyway whatever will be will be 🖤

9:25 "Where am I? What am I doing?what am I?" Are questions that I've been asking myself all my life

I believe it is important to consider that each of us remembers the same thing differently. So a little understanding is important.

Another beautiful video idea, loved it.

We are passangers to our bodies,our minds and the universe. Awesome!

What’s under appreciated is how beautifully done this video is. The graphics, the changes in music as the tone changes, the highly visual storytelling narration. Amazing quality work.

Recently have been depressed which made my memory to go bad and had very similar thoughts about very similar topics myself. I find it shocking that another person had thoughts that are this similar to mine, I mean the most of the video just feels like someone read my thoughts from a few days ago out loud.

Are we bound to enjoy this kind of topics until we die? We have forgotten to be open and vulnerable to one another.

That's only what you perceive to be the case, my friend. Those pictures are a representation of your reality. How is the most natural cycle 'unsetteling"? Stay safe. Be what you are. Thank you for this effort

I could think of several things. Trying to forget problems so hard you forget everything, having low confidence and questioning everything and not traveling/moving.

It's given me some solace to consider the idea that forgetting, or at the very least having an imperfect memory, could be a blessing and a feature. Some moments serve no purpose and contribute little if they're remembered, freeing up space for moments that do matter. We don't complain about not remembering what we did exactly 5 years, 7 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes and 43 seconds in the past. On the other hand, even if we forget some important events, that's not always a bad thing. There are some very traumatic things that happened to me in my past that i only vaguely remember, and I'm sure some that are completely forgetten. From a survival perspective, those could technically help me survive similar situations in the future. But now that I've been able to process the emotional impact of them, learning the lessons but letting go of the awful details or even the events outright, my life simply has become better.

Thank you for sharing your extraordinary insights.

I just finished watching the video, and I have to say, it really hit home. The video talks about dementia and how it affects people in a really moving way. It shows how dementia slowly erases memories and cognitive ability until people with Alzheimer's disease don't even know who they are anymore. It's really sad to see how people go from being a bit forgetful to completely lost and confused. In general, this video is a strong reminder of how delicate our minds are and how much of an impact dementia and other conditions can have on people and their families. It makes you think about what memories, identity, and life really mean, and it encourages you to be more understanding and compassionate towards those who are going through such a tough time.

Very good bro, u nailed this one!

Another absolutely incredible video by Pursuit of Wonder, but it's also absolutely devastating.

We are as infinite as the moment we are now . Death is simply an end goal to spite for a bit . If we forget our lives we are gone if we are gone then dead , instead we have lived . Be eternal fr

I experience early onset frontal temporal dementia, among many other things, due to a mutation. Some experiments have me functioning better at the moment, but I was close to death numerous times before understanding what was happening and how to mitigate it. I just want to say some thing.. Despite the loss of memories, the inability to form them, and the complete loss of functions: YOU'RE STILL IN THERE!!!!! And it is pure fucking HELL. Your brain has a subconscious backup memory. It doesn't include all the details, but the totality of everything is still there. You just feel it. Its like..standing outside a house. Not recognizing it but somehow knowing it's yours. You know there is something inside you need, but you dont know what it is or why you need it. And you can't find a way in, the door is gone and the windows are just shadows.

thanks for reminding me

That was a very cool video essay.

I was diagnosed with DID a couple years back but i was aware of it for a few years before that. I have very little memories of my childhood and the ones I do have are split up among alters who can and cant remember it. Its hard not knowing what youve done or being unable to remember anything youve done. I think that its important you cherish the memories you have you have no clue how lucky you are.

i don't feel like I am scared of death. But dementia, it fucking scares me! I'm still young, but if I get it I might actually k my self (after the first few stages). It gives me the spooks

Thank you

“Where am I? What am I doing? What am I?” I am here, I am experiencing life to the fullest. I am Alive.

Recently I have a new sense of my memories being a store of information about myself. Not so much to review and argue or modify with 'what i should have said', or 'I should have done that differently', but an opportunity to accept my self and my actions without judgement.

Beautiful imagery.

There's so much shit I wish I could forget.

I used to wish I can forget some parts I dont want to remember. But in life, when you make that wish, everyone forget you, and its so worse I suffer everyday for the last 4 months…..

Finally a little early today for my pursuit of wonder

Another good video

great, now I'm sad and can't recall specific memories from my childhood

I heard of a story where someone's last memory is when he was 19 yrs. old. Every morning he would wake to the horror that was an old man and robbed of his life, and would spend the whole day in anger, shock and sorrow until he fell asleep, and it would start all over again.

I was on a medicine for 3 years that caused cognitive issues. Memories was the hardest to wrangle. But I was happy. If something uoset me, I'd forget what the upset was for, then move on. When it came back to my awareness, it usually wasn't important anyway. It's been years since that med, but it taught me that we take ourselves too seriously.

This video projects a feeling that is dangerous and untrue.

This is one of the most beautiful vedios ive ever watched.

I’ve read about the neuroscience and nutritional support of dementia, and this video was the most poetic and philosophical take on the condition I have ever heard.

Memories always engage our senses! How it felt, how it looked, how it smelled, how it tasted, and what it sounded like. So every time you’re enjoying something take it all in, so you can remember it forever ❤

A slight digression, dreams are made up of memories mixed with true emotions and subconscious perceptions of reality. My father passed away 3 years ago, I see him in my dreams and at that moment he’s alive, because my majority of my memories, he’s present. He’ll truly die when everyone who knew and experienced him, forgets about him. My gran has dementia and my true feeling is that I hope she passes away sooner than later because living with no memories is simply not worth it. I could go on forever about my personal views on memories.

This video makes me intensely sad. My grandma has Alzheimers and I've watched her wither away from the person she used to be. My Dad is much like her. He is already showing signs of memory loss and he's barely turned 65. I already have witnessed the significant loss of a person through this damn disease. Now I'll have to see it happen again to my Dad. It kills me inside.

It's just as bad for my family. We remember almost everything. Heck, I remember eating ashes out of a trash can I knocked over at age 2, and I'm 53.

I just want to cry, I feel so lost

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:03 🧠 *Memory and Identity* - Memories shape our identity, influencing who we believe we are. - The richness of life is derived from clear, consistent memories. - Our identity is tied to our ability to retain and access memories. 01:19 🧠 *Understanding Dementia* - Dementia refers to symptoms impairing memory, thinking, and other functions. - Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause, characterized by abnormal protein deposits in the brain. - Dementia progresses through stages, gradually diminishing cognitive abilities. 04:38 🧠 *Profound Implications of Dementia* - Dementia illuminates the abstract nature of consciousness and selfhood. - William Utermohlen's self-portraits visually depict the effects of dementia on self-perception. - Dementia challenges notions of existence and the formation of meaning. 06:24 🧠 *Fragility of Memories* - Memories are inherently fragile and susceptible to distortion. - False memories can be formed due to suggestibility and cognitive biases. - The mind's inherent blind spots contribute to the uncertainty of memory recall. 08:12 🧠 *Existential Reflections* - Alzheimer's and dementia reveal the fragility of human existence. - Our identities are constructed from imprecise memories, vulnerable to decay. - The questions posed by those with dementia reflect broader existential inquiries about existence and consciousness. Made with HARPA AI

Thanks for uplifting my evening. It brought back the horrors of my mother's dementia,-- and my mother-in-law's premature dementia nightmare. Now what do I do? Comedy? That might help.

I want to show another side of this as it relates to dementia and memory loss. I grew up in my Grand parents house. My Grandfather lived until 94, he suffered severe gout for at least 15 years before his death. It was so bad he would scream in the night. He had several exploratory surgeries during this time, I have no clue why when it was gout, but this was in the 1980s and maybe they though it was some intestinal issue or cancer. My Grandmother and my mother took great care of him during this, but still at some point in the 1980s he decided he no longer wanted to live and stopped eating. My family had to put him in a nursing home at that point, and they gave him IVs, he lived in nursing homes for another 5 or 6 years and grew very very thin. One day he decided to stop eating once again and this time he passed away by the next day. My grandmother lived to 100 years old, in the end she went to an assisted living facility (her decision at the urging of some of our relatives, family politics, and she regretted it after she went there but it was too late), then in a few years she went in to its nursing home. She was so frail near the end, they staff had to be super careful with her. When they would pick her up to put her in bed her skin was so thin it sometimes would rip open. My grandfather asked why god would not let him die all the time, my grandmother was miserable as well. Neither had dementia or any type on noticeable memory loss. They were both sharp and aware of everything until the very end, it was a horrible experience for them both. This has left me with strong feelings about the end of our years and the importance of quality of life. I know dementia is a horrible condition, but I have seen the horror of people living so long that their bodies fail them and they are in pain and suffering and fully aware of it the entire time, which is the worse fate? I would love to see no one suffer either one.

I can find will and strength in telling those who scorn me "I will outlive you, and forget you."

Dissociation shares many symptoms with dementia. False or missing memories, disrupted sense of self, personality changes, etc. Noticing the similarities in my experiences i share with dementia patients makes me feel all the more for them, i do hope one day a treatment is found.

❤Thanks. So simple to understand about a very difficult topic is great service to mankind and keeping them aware. The point is degree of affection and connections present in older generations is diminishing now is creating a fear amongst older people now is becoming a serious concern is my observation may not be true. Thanks again.

The spirit is eternal. We're just borrowing these bodies

This thumbnail is actually so nice,

Living a thousand years with only a 24 hour memory seems like a blessing. That's a win-win.

Love the music

Death by dementia or dementia is the scares me the most. Like you simply cannot hold onto anything while saying goodbye to this world. Because of this i care about my memories so much. As said in the video memories make our personality in the end. But sadly, i cannot recall my memories in detail. I always forget the things i enjoy. The book i have read,the films i have watched,the things that i tought of... I just want remember good and meaningful things when i hit bed. And i cant recall any meaningful detail.This gives me great anxiety and sadness. Like i cannot imagine my grandfathers face or the rally car i like.There is just nothing. It is becoming unbearable. I dont know to do. I feel like i cannot contain my conscious. I dont want drift away like this...

I started thinking about my parents, they are 50 now and extremely happy, healthy, and loving. I am terrified of the possibility of either of them going through this. I cant bear watching their light drain like i did my grandparents.

Although you focus and exploration about dementia is quite a bit, what caught me early on in your discussion was this. You mentioned how our memories are there for us, like a photo album (my wording here), think about, recall, remember, and there’s a memory, etc. But, what is missing what some of us have **Aphantasia**. I can not think up memory, try to imagine it, and then “see” the image(s) of my request to my brain. I only came across this word, this rare condition, a few years ago. I have heard of photographic, eidetic memory years before. But never gave my missing Mind’s Eye much thought. I am not alarmed by this. This my normal. I can be mildly envious of those who can see their rememberings. Aphantasia- this title hasn’t been around very long. And studies inconclusive but those of us that have are numbered as quite a small portion of the population (primarily Western biased). So, an interesting philosophical, scientific, medical episode. I also really like the graphics you use, not boring, irritating, flash and splashes of movie clips, emojis, etc

My Grandfather passed from ALZ rather early and it is my worst fear, has been from the moment i understood what that kind of brain malfunction can, does and did happed to someone in my family.

During an episode of psychosis (lasted three months straight), I (20 at the time, now 22), lost all memory of my life and perception of self up to that moment. I remember frequently thinking "Oh god... I can't remember my name or where I'm from or what year it is or who the president is; I can't remember much of anything." My brain was just this numbingly empty void. Eventually, as I came out of psychosis, I began to regain my sense of self and all of my memories, but it was a terrible hellscape plane of existence; permanent torture, pain, and confusion. I couldn't even recognize objects or myself in the mirror; like ego death. Very interesting perspective I hold to be ripped away of my memories & cognitive function and then regain it all completely back after a few months of recovery.

I have memories from times and places that I’ve never seen before

Pursuit of wonder is stalking my late night existential sessions

We’ve already seen several cases on RU-vid where peoples’ memories last only seconds. A very difficult life.

The Father (Starring Anthony Hopkins) is a must-watch movie to fully explore the tragedy of what the experience of losing oneself to dementia would be like. It is heart rending, raw, and tragic, and I can't imagine a better depiction of the experience.

Clicking on this expecting to hear something I've never considered before. I'm a nurse and this is my daily reality. It's sad but I face this reality almost daily. It's hard