Matoran Memory Capacity

[Alyska]

Retrograde amnesia is absurdly common in the Matoran Universe. Cases like the Great Cataclysm or Takua's brainwashing involved a deliberate memory wipe, but there are things like the Av-Matoran dismissing the Toa Mata as a myth, despite having met them, the Mahri Matoran being unable to remember life on land, alternate universe Macku not remembering what Takanuva looked like as a Toa.

 

It really does seem as if Matoran brains weren't designed to store thousands of years' worth of information, so they very quickly throw out memories of old ways of life when it comes time to adapt to a new home or job. This makes sense given that many of them were labourers and only carried out simple repetitive tasks, but it's a bit sad to consider all those Ga- and Ko-Matoran who spent so many centuries at university in pursuit of knowledge they probably wouldn't be able to keep.

 

There might be a "use it or lose it" factor in play, so it's not so much that memories automatically expire so much as Matoran have to use the information regularly in order to keep it- not too different from us, though it does seem odd that they can easily forget such massive events- then again, who knows what kinds of memories we'd be able to retain if our human brains tried to cover lives that were milennia long?

 

This might explain why nobody seemed to know the truth about the Red Star- if Matoran who came back were sent to a different place, they'd  forget all about their old home, job, friends, etc as they got started in the new place. There might be a brief conflict of identity, but they'd eventually come to accept the new life and get on with it.

 

It also explains the emphasis on chronicling- rereading the chronicles and retelling the stories would be a reliable way of keeping the memories fresh if you couldn't rely on your mind alone.

 

Thoughts? 

[Xboxtravis]

Maybe they have selective memory deletion? Like their brain could have an organic part to store permenant info in conjunction with a hard drive, for example: their name. It seems no matter how many memory wipes that happen, they always recal their name.

 

Then their short term memory is easily erased on a RAM drive type deal. This could be what Teridax erased while they are in the Matoran spheres.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

I never thought the matoran had brains fit for long-term complex lives. They were made as simple machines, sentience was not planned in the creation of their brains. They were not meant to remember little day-to-day details like humans do. With the storing of so many details, including emotional ones, the brain would sort-of automatically dump 'em out. If some memories did linger then it would be like remembering foreign yet familiar, kind of of how like some people describe past lives.

 

Glad to see that someone else not only got it, but also wrote it out in detail. Great job. I am sure people will use this as part of their own research for fan fictions and the like.

[Kopekemaster]

Maybe they have selective memory deletion? Like their brain could have an organic part to store permenant info in conjunction with a hard drive, for example: their name. It seems no matter how many memory wipes that happen, they always recal their name.

 

Then their short term memory is easily erased on a RAM drive type deal. This could be what Teridax erased while they are in the Matoran spheres.

Except when there's a conveniently-placed name changing ceremony, hehe.

I like this idea, though, and it seems to make pretty good sense. Officially, of course, they were basically just little workers inside a giant machine, and as such wouldn't really need a powerful memory.

 

I kind of wonder what would change with their memory when they become a Toa, though, since it seems like they have better memories. And then Turaga seem to have very good memories, so it would seem like their memory gets upgraded as they move from Matoran to Toa to Turaga.

[unknown456]

Glad to see other people have thought of this too

 

Personally, I've always thought of it(the faulty memories) as being something similar to what we humans call 'memory errors'. These memory errors can cause us to forget things, remember things that never occurred, or otherwise remember events differently from how they occurred. All of that could of course cause beings, such as Matoran, to forget certain things or remember them differently, like, as you said, the Av-Matoran forgetting/legend-ifying the Toa Mata.

 

And, to add to the above, memory errors sometimes result from high stress/emotion during a particular event, expectations, or even changes in environment. And with that, that could explain why the Mahri Matoran forgot life above land, which I believe was at some point alluded to being 'trauma from the sinking' or something along those lines.

 

(Anyways, just my 5 cents, sorry I got a bit rambly there, I'll just go now )

 

(Although, this now makes me curious as to who has the better memory: Glatorian/Agori or Matoran....my bet's on Glatorian/Agori)