The nonpersistence of memory – an addendum – by Leon the Huguenot:

For those with memory problems.

Do you realise that your memory problems are unique? You are the only one who has ever had them.  By problems I mean that you have a near-photographic memory of your 12th birthday, but you can’t remember when you last cleaned your teeth.

I should perhaps qualify 'unique'.  You only share these problems with fourth thousand million other people, 90% of whom are dead. So it is a 'unique' in the sense that commercial organisations use the word i.e. meaning just about everyone is like it.

We all know that, since the appearance of humans on this planet, 20,000 million of us have lived or are still living.  30% of those are living right now.  Of those, 20,000 million, 4000 million reached the stage where they could regale their adult offspring with fascinating stories from their youth but could not remember what they had for breakfast.

Another 5000 million did not get much past their 20s.  In their old age, they could remember their first mammoth hunt as if it were yesterday -- sometimes because it was yesterday.

Of course, if you believe with Bishop Usher that the earth was created 6006 years ago you have to revise those figures down a bit.  I shall let you do the calculations.

Rule four: your current memory problems are unique.  With the exception of 4000 million other people, 90 percent of whom are dead, you are the only person ever to have had them.  You are special.