Storycorps is an American institution. Americans aren’t loving their institutions a whole lot these days, but this one surely has to be an exception.
Storycorps records stories of everyday Americans, many times in dialog with another person. They have recorded over 600,000 of these and the project is considered important enough to be preserved for posterity at the American Folklife Center at the library of Congress.
These are narratives ranging from mundane, everyday experiences to highly significant, life-changing ones. They are the stuff of our autobiographical or narrative selves; our story of who we are. They are mirrors reflecting our identities.
The autobiographical or narrative self is something we learn and internalize as young children. Most people, when asked about their earliest memories rarely recall any before the age of 3 or 4. This is a consequence of forgetting, known as childhood or infantile amnesia. Here’s John Hamilton of NPR reporting on it:
Is a lack of ability to weave our earliest memories into stories the reason why we forget our early childhood? What are the brain mechanisms of this childhood forgetfulness? Are these memories erased or suppressed as Freud theorized? If they are suppressed, could we retrieve them one day and change our stories of who we are? Lots of questions, all I can say is, stay tuned.
Childhood and earliest memories
Here is an oh-so-cute recording to remind you of being 3.
Do you see how hard it might be to form narratives at that age?
As Patricia Bauer and other researchers have found out, we lose most of our early childhood memories suggesting they don’t really form a big part of our adult identities. Unfortunately, the everyday, warm, fuzzy memories of being an infant and toddler are forgotten. The wonder years are lost forever. Every child asks their parents: “What was I like when I was a baby?”
Things change as we go through the second decade of life, particularly adolescence, when we learn to form complex narratives. In turn, complex narratives help form strong memories. These then are our core stories, our adult identity or autobiographical self. Even so, human memory is very selective and some unknown process determines which ones are kept and which ones forgotten, resulting in a wide variety of autobiographical narratives in adolescents.
One of the largest influences on identity of today’s adolescents is social media. Many teens (and adults) spend vast amounts of time on social media.
Listen below to a rather revealing conversation between two young women discussing how they use social networking and which app is their favorite. It is a rather long conversation but allows one a peek into a very strange world (strange for older adults). There is a reference to being continuously online in a ‘streak’ for over 400 days! There is love, glamor, betrayal, politics; an entire novel unfolds in 12 minutes. Real insight into how autobiographical selves form on social media.
Unless you live under a rock, you have heard how social media affects mental health. The rise in social media has paralleled the rise in teen depression. A recent CDC study found an astonishing 44% of teens admit to persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. That is about 19 million American teenagers, not counting younger kids and adults, who need help with their mental health! How is the professional mental health industry with its acute shortage of professionals going to cope with this deluge?
Source (Derek Thompson, the Atlantic)
Tragedies are an everyday occurrence. Meggie Royer, a young poet takes us deep into one such. (Use headphones or ear buds if possible)
Social media is a trial by fire for kids as they form their identities, and there is no help coming. Its up to the parents, really.