Time's Passage

[ithildin]

This is very rambleish, so bear with me.

Specifically, I was thinking this in regards to Methos as I was watching the most excellent vid "And As for You" by killabeez, but it applies to Highlander in general. The passage of time. How must it be to not see someone for more than two thousand years, then they're back in your life? Are Immortal's brains different in how they perceive and deal with the passage of time? Would a century seems like a few months? Do they have a more vivid and complete memory system than we do? Methos says his earliest memories are barely there anymore, assuming he's telling the truth of course, so there must be some sort of max for them. So he has vivid memories of four thousand years ago, but not five?

Just for myself, trying to remember people that I was close to twenty five years ago, but haven't seen since, my memory is fairly hazy. But for Immortals, it seems that seeing someone millennia later is like they just said goodbye last week.

Comments

Immortal Memory

[mischief5.livejournal.com]

Please bear with me because this will sound rather strange.

I never had a problem with Duncan's memory and I never believed that Methos didn't remember his begins because my memory works very much like theirs.

It's not photographic memory or total recall. Someone once explained it to me as "cascading" memory. Something triggers it. A name, a face, a smell, a question, something, and I have what I can only desribe as a semi-flashback. I can 'see' the memory in full detail. BUT I can only see what I saw in the memory. If I didn't see it then, I can't see it now. I'm limited to my own perceptions. (I think that's true of everyone.)

Frex: Ask me where I bought a particular shirt. I look at the shirt and every detail of that purchase comes up: the store, the layout of the store, the location of the shirt within the store, the location of the cash register, the cashier's face, name, did I pay with cash, check, credit, was I alone or with someone, who?, what day was it, what was the weather, the time, what did we do before, what did we do after, did I buy anything else at the same time? On what occaison did I first wear it?

It all comes flooding back in that moment. But until that moment, it's stored away somewhere, completely forgotten. Once I pull the memory up, if I don't edit my response, I usually get a very strange look from the person asking or they'll say, "How do you remember that shit?"

I don't know, I just do. But it has to be triggered. I've learned to trigger memories myself (this is very helpful when taking tests) and I've learned how to store them so that the painful ones don't keep eating at me.

This might very well be how Immortal memory works. It seems to be how my brain is wired. It might make sense for them as well. Store the memory until it's needed then let it cascade out. And bear in mind that mortals only use about 10% of their brain's capacity, possibly less. So an Immortal, even one as old as Methos, would have plenty of room and plenty of practice with this type of recall.

It's a reality for me. It could work for them as well. JMHO.