History Main / NoObjectPermanence

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* The Silence in in season premier episodes of Series 6 of ''Series/DoctorWho'' are a race of aliens that are forgotten as soon as you stop looking at them.

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
* The Gap Chasm in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series had a Forgetfulness spell on it that caused something like this: Anyone who went to the Gap Chasm would promptly forget that it existed upon leaving.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]
* In the ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' episode "All About You-niverse", Alex attempts to hide herself from her mom after having "borrowed" money from the Sub Station to purchase a vending machine. After Alex hides, Zeke begins talking as if Alex is no longer in the room, even though all she did was cover herself with a sheet.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Unforgettable": An alien race called the Ramuran gives off pheromones that interfere with long-term memories. Once a Ramuran leaves another creature's presence, after a few hours the other creature will have completely forgotten about ever meeting the Ramuran.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In one ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' [[http://smbc-comics.com/index.php?id=2145 strip]], the father is playing "where's the ball?" with his child, when he replies "For the last time, DAD, I don't have object permanence!"

[[AC: WebOriginal]]
* ''Website/TheOnion'' report: [[http://www.theonion.com/video/us-high-school-students-falling-behind-china-many,30903/ 10% of U.S. high school students graduate without basic object permanence skills]].

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

[[AC: RealLife]]

* In the ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' episode "All About You-niverse", Alex attempts to hide herself from her mom after having "borrowed" money from the Sub Station to purchase a vending machine. After Alex hides, Zeke begins talking as if Alex is no longer in the room, even though all she did was cover herself with a sheet.

** [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2277 Another strip starts with a baby adrift in a blank void]], desperately philosophising about how the universe suddenly ceased to exist. Yes, he's playing peekaboo too.

* In one ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip, the father is playing peekaboo with his child, when he replies "For the last time, DAD, I don't have object permanence!"
** Another strip starts with a baby adrift in a blank void, desperately philosophising about how the universe suddenly ceased to exist. Yes, he's playing peekaboo too.

* PiersAnthony's ''Mute'': The hero's mutant power is that once he leaves the view of another person, that person completely forgets him.

* Doofenshmirtz from ''PhineasAndFerb'' can't recognize Perry the Platypus without his hat- if Perry takes off his hat in front of him, he assumes Perry has somehow switched places with a regular platypus. Perry uses this to his advantage all the time.

* In the ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''MerlinsShopOfMysticalWonders'', a poorly-executed magic spell causes Mike to sort-of revert to being a baby.[[note]]He has the mental processes of a baby, [[RuleOfFunny but keeps the body and speech abilities of an adult]].[[/note]]

* In one ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip, the father was playing peekaboo with his child, but the boy replied, "For the last time, DAD, I don't have object permanence!"

* In one ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip, the father was playing peekaboo with his child, but the boy replied, "For the last time, DAD, I don't have object permanence! "

* In one ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip, the father was playing peekaboo with his child, but the boy replied, "Damn it, Dad, I don't have object permanence."

* ''TheOnion'' report: [[http://www.theonion.com/video/us-high-school-students-falling-behind-china-many,30903/ 10% of U.S. high school students graduate without basic object permanence skills]].

* The unnamed god in Neil Gaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'' invokes this in whoever interacts with him. Any information about him is instantly forgotten, although the advice he gives that is not related to him is remembered as some hunch out of nowhere.

Compare LivingMotionDetector for when object permanence depends on the motion of the object. Do not confuse it with NoOntologicalInertia, which is when an object really ''is'' impermanent.

* In RayBradbury's short story "No Particular Night or Morning", one of the astronauts develops this due to being in space too long, starts worrying that people, things, even places stop existing once he leaves or otherwise can no longer directly see them, and goes slowly insane as a result.

!! Examples

* In the ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''MerlinsShopOfMysticalWonders'', a poorly-executed magic spell causes Mike to sort-of revert to being a baby.[[hottip:*:He has the mental processes of a baby, [[RuleOfFunny but keeps the body and speech abilities of an adult]].]]

* In one ''SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' strip, the father was playing peekaboo with his child, but the boy replied, "Damn it, Dad, I don't have object permanence."

* Inverted with the [[TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal]] which is such a stupid animal that it thinks if you can't see it, it can't see you.

* ''StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Unforgettable": An alien race called the Ramuran gives off pheromones that interfere with long-term memories. Once a Ramuran leaves another creature's presence, after a few hours the other creature will have completely forgotten about ever meeting the Ramuran.