No one seems to have asked so,
We have lots of these memories and obviously they are there because it's what we did (more or less anyway) but
Why do we have the memories?
and what effect would not having them have on us.
Does remembering a particular place very well really have an effect on this lifetime or would the things that happen in it happen anyway whether we remember it or not.
or (an extreme example) If I didn't remember that I had eaten someone once, would it mean that I was likely to do it again or do I consider myself intelligent enough to know that it's not a good idea just by sensibly reasoning it through.
Zygo
My memories do not define who I am, my actions do that. But my memories contribute to the whole, they make me aware of who I am.
I would not be who I am right now without them. Without my memories I might even be human.
I believe everything we are and everything we are capable of becoming, begins with our earliest memories. They shape our future as surely as they define our past.
They record the road travelled, whilst marking signs for the journey ahead.
Our experiences good and bad help us make choices further down the road, left or right, up or down.
If you eat a shrimp and it severly disagrees with you, you would not eat another one, why? Because you remember what happened last time and you know it would probably happen again. Without your memories you'd be eating bad shrimp forever.
If I didn't remember that I had eaten someone once, would it mean that I was likely to do it again or do I consider myself intelligent enough to know that it's not a good idea just by sensibly reasoning it through.
Here is another thought for you Zygo...
If you do remember eating someone is it likely to give you the taste for it in future lives? 
I am sure some would say yes. 
Hmmmmm caribou???? Yummy Yummy????
Erm Sound familiar???????
I think we have memories in order to follow a different path. If we didn't remember we'd probably just do the same things over and over again. mostly because if the urge is there once, if you don't find it's bad in some way, then you'll follow through the urge again and again. that and (i don't know bout the rest of you) but the knowledge i gain from the memories help me out. i can understand things that i shouldn't be able to understand, see patterns in things i shouldn't be able to see simply because i haven't had the training in this life. i like that i can depend on the knowledge i've struggled to learn in other lives in this one. Makes it so the life could continue on. i dunno, i wouldn't have it any other way though.
I think that there are a number of reasons why we have memories of our past lives.
I think that somewhere deep within us we all hold all memories of all lives just as we do with all the memories of this one. For whatever reason, when we come into this life we limit ourselves, shut off the memories of what went before. This is necessary because if we all walked around with full memories we would not be able to function in this life. I suppose in our fleshly limits there is only so much a brain can hold.
Some of the memories we are able to access are those that we allow ourselves to know, those things which are necessary for us in this life...to learn the lessons we need to learn, to follow the path we need to follow, to find the people we need to meet etc.
Some of the memories are so strong and fundamental that we cannot shut them out.
Some of the memories are accidentally triggered by the things we do or situations we get into etc.
Thats my thoughts
My memories of past lives are not definitive to the person I am now but they all add flavour to the mix
i agree completely. well said.
I think I remember mostly because I am not permitted to forget. My people are not prolific (at this moment in time there are only 12 of us in human form and I am the only girl of the 12) and each one of us carries the collective memory of our clan within us. Forgetting is not only not permissable under the circumstances, it is unthinkable.
Darkness
Do you all know about each other and if you do how do you? Is it a telepathy thing or do your ancestors tell you or....?
Will you ever meet while you are all alive?
Just being nosy. LOL
C.T.M.
Me too. It sounds so fascinating and so.......secure? Is that the right word?
Anyway, please do not think that we are prying for the sake of it and we will, of course understand if things are too private to share but we would be soooo interested to hear more.