Mostly what you lose with time, in memory, is the specificity of things, their exact sequence. It all runs together, becomes a watery soup. Portmanteau days, imploded years. Like a bad actor, memory always goes for effect, abjuring motivation, consistency, good sense.
Interpretation
Memory tends to blend together over time, losing specific details and clarity.
In this quote, James Sallis reflects on the nature of memory and how time affects our recollection of events. He suggests that as time passes, our memories become less distinct and more fused into a vague amalgamation, akin to a 'watery soup'. This blend erases the clarity and sequence of past experiences, illustrating the unreliable nature of memory as it prioritizes emotional impact over factual accuracy.
In practice
In a speech about the effects of aging on cognition.
He existed a step or two to one side of the common world, largely out of sight, a shadow, all but invisible. Whatever he owned, either he could hoist it on his back and lug it along or he could walk away from it. Anonymity was the thing he loved most about the city, being a part of it and apart from it at the same time.
The high point of civilization is that you can hate me and I can hate you but we develop an etiquette that allows us to deal with each other because if we acted solely upon our impulse we'd probably go to war.
Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality.
I think the relationship between memory and time is a very deep and tricky one, to tell you the truth. I don't consider memory another sense. I do consider memory that which allows us to think that time flows.
The pressure to compete, the fear somebody else will make the splash first, creates a frenzied environment in which a blizzard of information is presented and serious questions may not be raised.
All violent feelings have the same effect. They produce in us a falseness in all our impressions of external things, which I would generally characterize as the pathetic fallacy.
How can you respect the world when you see it's being run by a bunch of kids turned old?
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