Ask Lemmy

All of Skyrim

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.

My entire memory operates spatially. I have accurate floor plans of every place I’ve been to at least more than once. I can navigate any number of places. Even still have the layout and significant memories of my old middle school. (Interestingly enough, when I went back there, the whole building felt about 30% smaller in every dimension—hallways narrower and shorter, ceilings lower. Turns out, this is because I’m 30% larger than I was when I was twelve.)

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

Pretty much, yes. I could probably draw them now, but I make no assumptions that it would be to scale.

I can't draw you a map of routes I've taken, but I can see them in my head.

I remember drawing floorplans for fun as a kid after my dad brought home a book of them from a housing company - that was 30± years ago.

But I can't tell you what I had for breakfast this morning.

I remember basically every house or apartment I’ve lived in, and every office I’ve worked in. Probably quite a few stores and restaurants I’ve frequented, schools I’ve attended. I can recall neighborhood layouts. Basically anything spatial.

Now, can I tell you what someone’s name is two minutes after they’ve told me? Not a chance.

TFC and TF2 maps

Yep. Couldn't tell you dates, names, or many events, but I have a great mental image of what the places looked like and how they were laid out.

everywhere i have ever been...

I think I could do fairly well with any place I'd frequently been in, and with enough autonomy to get disoriented and reoriented. Some of the houses I've lived in are not much more architecturally elaborate than a shotgun shack, but I could also do my elementary school, most of a middle school, two college dormitories, and most of a university library.

I remember every place I've ever lived. My mind will not forget those things.

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.

I've lived in 21 apartments/houses, and I remember them all except from four where I didn't live for very long.

Side note: I've worked offshore rotation for years, and a ship becomes your home away from home. I remember them all.

Yes. Interesting observation that we remember that.

I have only lived in 3 places. I can definitely remember the second place, the longest one. I vaguely remember the first house I lived in until I was 5. Not sure how close my memory is to reality tho. The second house I could just load up a Doom .wad I still have from when I made my house in the game if I ever forgot or felt nostalgia for.

I have the spicy brain. I remember everywhere I've ever driven to and that's a lot of places. Across Canada several times. Lived in 5 different provinces and traveled extensively throughout. I map everything in my head. I am terrible with cardinal directions though.

I have exceptionally good memory for this kind of thing so yes. I can probably remember the layout of every building i've ever fully explored or 80% explored.

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 think you'll surprise yourself. You piece things together at the time, E.G "I can't go there because it's staff only; therefore that entire area must contain the teachers' lounge, where they make the food, and the headteachers' office." By process of elimination you could probably figure out what each room was used for in your old school even without having gone to all the rooms.

I lived in the same house for most of my life and before that I was at my grandparents' place 

Yes, I thought back through them and I can totally remember and visualize them. But I've forgotten a lot of the address numbers.

There was an apartment we lived in when I was 6-7 which for some reason has some hazy spots, but besides that yeah pretty much. Friends' houses, schools since 9ish (at least the parts I went to), every workplace, theme parks, basically anywhere I've been a few times.

Hmm, I only have a rough idea about my elementary school, come to think of it. I remember the field outside much better. Later schools are easy, though. Houses are all there, and relative's houses. Certain stores and a church or two, as well.

I remember a radius around every place I've lived outside, but could only draw it geometrically where there's been grid layouts. Otherwise it would be kinda abstract, like they did it in Rome:

Central Europe and Africa pictured, lol.

Not really. Maybe vaguely. But not as well as I wish I did.

I have only lived in 5 places in my life and some of them were for only a few months at a time but I still remember every room of them

Basically anything after 5 I could probably draw you a pretty accurate map

I have recurring dreams of a school I never went to. The floor plan is always the same.

All of them? No. I can remember some details of a lot of them, and some of them very well, but there's others -- especially from when I was very young -- that I no longer have a good full mental map of.

I definitely do not remember the layout of all my schools. I moved a lot and some of these are just disconnected fragments of areas to me now. I have no idea how my classroom and the cafeteria were connected in the school I was at in 3rd grade, for example, and I'm struggling to even remember how I got home from school then -- even though I do remember taking the bus to school at that age, and I remember some of the places I had to wait to catch the bus home when I was even younger than that... It's strange what sticks in memory and what doesn't, sometimes.

Every home I've lived in, every school I've attended, and every office I've worked in.

What's weird is when I have a dream that takes place in one of these, they almost always wrong. When I can remember the dream I can also remember exactly how the space was different from my memories. Of course my waking memories are the correct ones, right? Right? Oh no.

I'm 53 now, and could easily draw a map of the 2 houses that I lived in as a kid between 5 and 18 years old, along with most of the 10 or so houses I've lived in as an adult (a couple were very short term as a young adult, and I'm kind of vague on the exact layouts).

Before 3 years old I don't remember much, a couple of vague things that could just be from pictures of me in those houses, rather than real memories. I kind of remember some of the house from 4 - 5 years old.

Easy, most of the places I've lived in are one bedroom apartments.

I only remember one because it was a shot gun layout. Kitchen-living room-mom's bedroom-my bedroom all in a straight line. Super inconvenient because I had to go past her room every time. The other places I lived were bigger, so I don't remember them exactly.

Sure, one good one is bike paths, if you’ve used them enough, you get a good general layout of the neighbourhood.