I still remember… an apartment I lived in till the age of 8… like I could draw a map of the interior…

I still kinda remember some of the places of my relatives that I’ve been to frequently, although those memories are a little bit more blurry.

I remember some of the schools I’ve been to… like the general vibe of it, idk if I could actually draw a map… more of a notebook doodle maybe

I used to draw maps of my neighborhood when I was in brooklyn… yeah so… I wasn’t allowed much computer time and didn’t have a phone… and my brain kinda turned my attention to the surroundings and I just get so bored and draw a map of the neighborhood lol.

  • [object Object]@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Not just houses and apartments, including those where I was a guest. I also walked quite a lot across two cities — as hiking exercise, I walked over most of a city with several million population, over a few years. I can remember most of those streets, and I’ve noticed some changes in the landscape from years before: mostly new fences and buildings put up.

    Moreover, I have a couple places that only exist in my dreams and daydreams, but are the same every time they pop into my mind. They vaguely correspond to real places, but aren’t copies of them.

    This all is not to brag, as my memory otherwise is rather questionable, and I have little use for spatial memory, not being a taxi driver or whatever.

  • [object Object]@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    By the way, recall that humans were traditionally hunter-gatherers, for hundreds of thousands of years. This required them to be intimately familiar with a large chunk of land around their home and know all the plants and animals that were there. Rural dwellers still show similar knowledge of the land.

    Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel ‘Shaman’ kinda touches on this just a bit, showing what life might’ve been like for a prehistoric human. The author is known for meticulously researching the subject matter of his books: for example, he’s said that he spent time figuring out which words likely originated in prehistoric time, and that it felt weird to have his characters basically say “mamma mia”, as those are some of the oldest words.

    (Although a recent thread on Reddit on a related topic assumes throughout that humans were nomadic before agriculture. This clashes with my previous belief, but I don’t know enough about this to figure out which view is correct.)

  • Pazintach@piefed.social
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    1 month ago

    I remember every place where I’ve lived in for more than one week. Including their surrounding areas. I like go back there in my mind from time to time, for many of them don’t exist any more.

  • greybeard@feddit.online
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    1 month ago

    Running through my head, I could easily draw maps for dozens of places. I’ve lived in quite a few, but my work had me regularly visiting a lot of different offices (IT). Many of them I did literally draw maps of, for wiring diagrams, or just to help other techs find their way.

  • dave@feddit.uk
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    1 month ago

    Pretty sure this is kind of how lots of memory works in general—very spatially oriented and you can use that to your advantage. Look up ‘memory palace’ for example.

  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Yup, every single one, with one exception.

    Once I was renting a town house, and due to a structural issue, had to move in to the unit next to it after being in the original unit for about 2 years. Turns out the unit next to it was an exact mirror of the original one. That really messed with my head and I have trouble recalling the exact layout any more. My brain keeps flipping and merging different parts of them together in to some strange chimera.

    It also messed with my cats, who would run down the stairs and turn the wrong direction, in to a wall.

  • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    Yes, perfectly. I can think of an abandoned house I used to go in 20 years ago and recall the almost exact layout of it.

    I have a really good map memory. My friend though, they cannot visualize in their head so its hard for them. I had thought everyone could do it.

  • oopsgodisdeadmybad@lemmy.zip
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    1 month ago

    I feel this is probably pretty common, unless you’ve lived in a bunch of different places for not very long at a time.

    I’ve only lived in 3 places. (Well 4, but I was only like 2 or 3 when we left the first one)

    Only 3 places for a decent amount of time while old enough to remember. Moved out of the first of those when I was 6. My only other places are the house I grew up in and a house I moved into with friends and co-workers.

    None of my siblings remember the first house, but I could still draw a decent layout of it, and remember how it looked.

    My main house I lived in the most I still know obviously, and my parents still own it, so I definitely haven’t forgotten it.

  • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Ha, yes. I actually just had a funny moment about this a few weeks ago. I spent a lot of time as a teen in Canada (I live in the US.) One of my coworkers, by sheer coincidence, came from the same town I used to visit.

    We were talking the other day and I mentioned that I had sushi for the first time in Canada. She asked where and I was like, “Oh, I don’t remember the name, but I know where it was.” She mentioned a name, which didn’t initially ring a bell, so I opened a map. I zoomed in on where I remembered walking until I found the spot, and instantly laughed. It was, indeed, the exact same place my coworker named.

    It’s been over 20 years, but if I were to go to Canada and take the train into that town, I’d still be able to walk to that sushi place without any help.

  • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    When I’m stressed out and need to calm myself, I run through the layouts of old buildings I used to work, live, or go to school in.

    • lennybird@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I launched TFC and went into a dead 2fort server not long ago. That was a major blast of nostalgia I can’t even begin to describe. Dustbowl, Well, Avanti, Badlands, etc. Good times and I think my first online mp experience.

      That and Battlefield on bonus.com back in the day.

  • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Nearly every place. Apparently we lived in a place for a few months when I was first born.

    Freaked out part of my family when I drew a map of the first house I remember. I think they finally figured out that children do remember things… And a lot of the shit I was put through I might remember

    • Freaked out part of my family when I drew a map of the first house I remember.

      My mom brought me to her workplaces at least once… or maybe more times than that… (I don’t even remember how many times tbh) and then one day my older brother wanted to fight me so I got scared and I “ran from home” when I was like 6 years old… and at some point, I had the idea of just I want mommy so I took the bus there and I knew which stop to get off, but she wasn’t there at work because she already got notified by grandma so she went to file a missing persons report and so I took the bus home… then I got to the mall area near my apartment and saw a bunch of cops…

      so when I told my mom about it, my mom was so shocked that I made my way to her workplace…

      I doubt the cops even thought of looking that far, they probably just went around the neighborhood.

      (literally Home Alone NYC shit, but it was in Guangzhou, China instead)

      I just became like my family’s navigator basically.

      My mom scolded me for running away, but then also praised me for being smart enough to find my way.

      I remember them saying that I used to guided them around places because they stuggled to understand maps or whatever… idk… I don’t really remember about those from this point in time, just the memory of being told I was good at finding my way.

      I also was their navigator throught NYC metro system… idk if my parents actually sucked at finding their way… or maybe they were just trying to make me feel confident in myself.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The house I grew up in? Sure. Like the back of my hand. A couple other places maybe. But there was essentially a decade where I moved so many times I couldn’t even tell you what the house or apartment I rented looked like much less what the inside looked like if I tried. It’s been 30 years since I lived in my hometown, I wouldn’t get lost ever, but I don’t think I could find all the places I used to know.