Why are bad things so memorable?

    This week during silent book club I started a new book called The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. This book is an autobiography about the authors life and experiences. The first chapter tells the story of her earliest memory, severely burning her hand when making hotdogs and being forced to go to the hospital for the injury. Just like Walls, my earliest memory was rather negative. I was forced to sit in the cafeteria at day care, trying to finish the extra large sandwich my dad packed. This caused me to miss nap time, which at the time was very upsetting. I found it interesting that the author’s earliest memory and mine were negative/traumatic experiences. 

    After doing some research, I found a study by Pennsylvania University that suggests “unpleasant memories create more of a lasting impact on the human mind”. So why is this? Painful experiences are necessary for growth, through traumatic experiences we learn more about the world and ourselves. For example, due to the fact that I have experienced what its like to feel left out, I have more empathy for people experiencing the same thing. It’s our painful and negative experiences that give us the opportunity to change and how we choose to respond to them shapes the type of person we become. It makes since that our earliest memories would be negative ones, because they are the first lessons we learn and take to heart.

Sources:

https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa16/2016/10/14/do-we-remember-negative-events-more-vividly-than-positive-ones/