there’s this effect i have yet to track down or create a name for - temporarily i’ll call it the roadline effect - where i’m listening to something longform, let’s say a podcast, let’s say while i’m driving on the freeway.
i’ll suddenly realize my mind has wandered (as it’s prone to do) and that i’ve missed the last however many minutes of content, and i want to go back and catch up. so i’ll rewind and find the last bit that i remember having paid attention to. and the moment i recognize something i’ve heard, i flash back to the bit of freeway i was passing that i first heard it.
this correlation of memory can relate to my own thoughts as well. if i have an idea along my train of though while driving and listening, and then i’ve forgotten what that idea was, down the road, i can simply rewind the track (alternately, drive down the same road, but that’s never convenient) and the thought will automatically return to me.
it’s an amazing trick of memory that i’ll never stop taking advantage of.
