Sound and place and memory 

I was searching this morning for a particular remark in the net@night interview with Jimmy Wales. (That's the answer to the clip clue posted Thursday night, BTW.)

As I dipped into the file in Audacity, I found myself gauging how close I was to the quote I was looking for by remembering where I was when I heard the sample, since I originally listened to the whole interview in the car.

So the thought process went something like this:

- I was on my way to work, about to get on the 355 onramp at that point

- I'm sure I heard the part I'm looking for at lunchtime, so it must be at least 20 minutes later.

Isn't it interesting how you're able to remember exactly where you were when you heard a particular comment? I've heard Adam Curry talk about this, maybe a year ago; I'm not a regular listener of DSC anymore. He was noodling with the idea of tying the phenomenon to advertising in some way.

I'm just fascinated by it because I think it's fun to think about how your brain works. I suppose it's something like the more macro situation where you associate a song with where you were in your life. Thankfully, I probably won't retain the nugget about the onramp for more than a few days. I understand that's what dreaming is for, partly, to help clear away the short-term stuff you don't need to recall.