I read today that Elon Musk said that “memory loss is a thing of the past”. It was an advert for a drug. True or not, in the past I’ve had severe memory loss. At the age of 22 I had Amnesia as a result of a ski accident in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria in Germany. But I remember it as if it was yesterday. So, in my case you can say that “memory loss is a thing of the past”.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a beautiful Bavarian town, and it is one of the most famous German ski resorts. Zugspitze Germany’s highest mountain is nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen providing for an impressive scenery. I was there with a large group of Swedish friends, and we stayed at a youth hostel. As is typical for a youth hostel men and women were separated. What was a bit unusual were all the loudspeakers.
Achtung! Achtung. Sei jetzt ruhig.
At 10:00PM on our first evening at the youth hostel the loudspeakers came on and someone started shouting “Achtung! Achtung. Sei jetzt ruhig. Alle Gäste müssen gehen und sich die Zähne putzen. Musik ist verboten. Die Lichter beginnen zu dimmen.” We had to be quiet and go brush our teeth. The lights started dimming and women and men had to go to their quarters. The loudspeaker came on every now and then barking orders at us in German and all windows and doors were locked electronically. Being from Sweden we followed orders, but we were laughing about it. Suddenly new voices started shouting in the loudspeaker. It was younger sounding voices. It was still in German but this time we were told to rebel against the hotel management, we were told to refuse to go to bed, and they started singing fighting songs in German. Then, suddenly the loudspeakers went quiet. The hotel management was back. We all had to go to bed. Well, it was budget lodging after all.
The Ski Accident
What happened the next day I do not remember myself, but this is what I have been told. I decided to go down an icy double black diamond slope despite the sign saying that the conditions were dangerous. I fell badly, hit my head (I had no helmet), and I got a severe shoulder displacement. My arm was hanging on my back. I went looking for my skis and tried to put them back on, but some Germans came down to stop me. They were screaming at me and calling me crazy. An ambulance was called, and they sent snowmobiles to pick me up. However, the snowmobiles were unable to get there so they got a pist-machine to get me instead. I had no pain, but I was confused, and I discovered my severe shoulder displacement about 10 times before I got to the hospital. I was equally shocked every time I noticed the condition of my arm. I had no short-term memory, and I had forgotten my friends and most other things.
My memories come back
The next 2-3 days after the accident are essentially gone. However, I remember my friends coming into my room asking me questions such as “what’s my name?”, “do you remember where we are?”. I kind of liked all the attention I got but I understood that something was not right. No one knew whether I would ever get my memory back and going though immigration and customs might be an issue when you are, well out of it. The leader and organizer of the trip was very upset. However, my memories came back very quickly within just a few hours on the second or third day of amnesia. I have to admit I was happier when I couldn’t remember anything. I can add that my left arm was in a cast.
A shocking discovery of what’s under my bed
Under my bed I found a thick book on Statistical Mechanics. At first, I did not know what it was, but then I unfortunately remembered. I had a final exam in Statistical Mechanics after our vacation. Statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. More specifically, you do statistical calculations over large sets of atoms and molecules to figure out the macro condition of the corresponding gas or material. For example, temperature corresponds to the average kinetic energy of atoms, entropy is the natural logarithm of the number of real microstates corresponding to the gas’s macrostate, often loosely referred to as the disorder of the system.
Statistical Mechanics includes classical Statistical Mechanics as well as its Quantum Mechanical counterpart, which is a lot more abstract and complicated. The class I was taking covered both. Some important scientists in the field are James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann, Paul Ehrenfest, Albert Einstein, and Satyendra Nath Bose. If you love statistics and complicated mathematics, then Statistical Mechanics might be for you but more likely it will just kill your enthusiasm.
My Exam
Once I was back in Sweden, I went to see my professor, and I explained the situation to him: “hello professor, I had a ski accident, hit my head, and I lost my memory. My amnesia made me forget statistical mechanics.”. He could also see that my left arm was in a cast. I said, “could I take the exam a little later?” He asked me “are you right-handed or left-handed?” I said, “I am right-handed”. The professor answered, “well then you take the exam on time like everybody else”. It wasn’t what I wanted to hear but I took it and I passed but not with flying colors.
Have you had Amnesia?
If you were a teacher, would you accept amnesia as an excuse for postponing an exam?
Leonberger Life 