Memory and nostalgia
![Painting of large trees with exposed roots in a verdant forest, a wooden fence and a distant cabin partially obscured by foliage in the background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/a3e9458e-5c9d-4abd-b68f-ec7085bba8df/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Imagination
idea
Aphantasia can be a gift to philosophers and critics like me
Aphantasia veils the past and the future from the mind’s eye. That can be a gift to philosophers like Derek Parfit and me
by Mette Leonard Høeg
![Abstract painting featuring blurred figures in a green and blue environment with splashes of brown. The scene has a dreamy, ethereal feel.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/ee995783-f8cf-48db-b1d7-1e0c68559798/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
The self
idea
Memory involves the whole body. It’s how the self defies amnesia
People with anterograde amnesia can’t rely on memory alone for their sense of self. Instead, they remember with their body
by Ben Platts-Mills
![](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/7827ea95-ad28-4a6b-b363-cac6ca94a92a/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Photography
film
One photo per day for more than a year, exploring how rituals affect memory
Directed by Scott Thrift
![Night-time long exposure photo of a road with blurry, colourful light trails from car headlights and taillights against a dark background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/3bfb07f7-0d84-49bf-967a-40a48f8810d6/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
The self
idea
Sudden amnesia showed me the self is a convenient fiction
Sudden amnesia let me experience what Buddhists and philosophers have been saying all along about the existence of the self
by Steven Hales
![Photo of a person riding a bicycle on a sunlit road casting a distinct shadow. The image has a warm, glowing effect.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/be9f14f8-d5ab-4447-bd1c-4d62a39e8f4f/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Psychiatric medication
idea
Benzos calmed my anxiety, but my memory became a deep fog
With anxiety levels rising during the pandemic, a corresponding rush on benzodiazepine use could have a huge toll on memory
by Alex Smith
![A photo of a person on a stationary bike in a living room with a fan and paintings. There are flowers and sofas in the background.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/0aadb980-2dcc-49b8-9519-b531ed852024/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Rituals and celebrations
film
Rituals and memories animate a day in the serene life of an Italian grandmother
Directed by Maria Piva
![A woman holding a white flower sits on a kerb amid a crowd of standing people at an outdoor event.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/67e6deda-c301-4997-8e58-cc42ff6df919/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Forgiveness
idea
Must you forget to forgive? A scientist tests the relationship
Forgiveness is colloquially linked with fading memory – but research is probing what it really means to let go of wrongdoing
by Shayla Love
![Photo of a blurry suburban street with detached houses and a neatly trimmed lawn with another image faintly overlaid of two children and two houses](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/f6778b1c-0961-4532-8324-98fdeb94fab6/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Altered states
idea
Déjà vu is just one of many uncanny kinds of déjà experiences
What can the many types of déjà experiences that most people have tell us about reality, memory and the gaps in between?
by Art Funkhouser
![An old, weathered boat hull is grounded in a field with two bare trees under a cloudy sky.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/a2db3994-edb2-4847-9ab3-6324a154ec84/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Traditional arts
film
Scottish Gaelic songs send a message in a bottle across the oceans of time
Directed by Jamie Chambers