Does having a good memory aid or hinder creativity?

I can actually speak to this. I think that it can be an obstacle that needs to be overcome.

In my case, I have a very good ear for relative pitch, including chord changes and a very good memory for melody and lyrics. If I hear a song a handful of times, I can usually figure it out from memory on the guitar (although not usually in the original key).

While this is very fun in a jam session situation or at a party, it's not really great for trying to write original music. I'll start playing something that sounds nice and riffing to it, only to realize the similarity to one of the other couple of thousand songs I know how to play. I try to ignore it because I know its inevitable. Chord progressions and melodic elements are reused all the time, and many times are stylistic markers. Some bands have multiple albums that all sound the exact same. But it's not always easy to ignore the voice in your head that's like "you're playing a Coldplay song", or "you pretty much wrote this song already in high school".

Sometimes I end up trying to write around the other song, deliberately changing things to sound as unlike the song I'm trying not to rip off as possible. Sometimes that ends up sucking the energy out of the creative process. Sometimes it works.

I'm a engineer with memory problems. If you can build coping mechanisms you get very used to extrapolating and re-formulating things on the fly. But you can also forget edge cases and technicalities more easily.

Ultimately this isn't a one dimensional problem. Better memory is better, bad memory can help build extrapolation skills, but intention and practice can do that too. It's better to have both good memory and good inference.

I remember in math classes I would re-derive most of the trig equations on the back of every test. Meant I had to be faster at solving the problems too.

I don't think the "bad memory helps with novelty" is actually a thing. You can fall into ridged structures of thinking either way.

IMHO, a good memory is an aid. To the extent that it appears as a hindrance, I believe this is a different problem that must be overcome by other means. My reasoning is, that the good memory is employed in learning about structures and patterns and possibilities - 'possible ways'. The more knowledge you have about possible structures, the vaster the space you can navigate to search for and find new combinations and solutions. Not having all this knowledge, would mean you are searching blind. Metaphorically, your 'tunnel' may be 5 cm away from breaking through to a possible solution to the other side, but without knowledge of the possible-patterns landscape, you will not realize that there is a solution to find by just tunneling 5 cm onwards. You may still be able to find great combinations by "dumb luck", with great effort - but knowing the map and the territory, all else the same, SHOULD be a great accelerating advantage. If this knowledge of prior art is combined with the attitude 'oh no that is just that song by X', of course that may seem bad. But that should be solved with techniques like Edward de Bono's six thinking hats or whatever else leads to constructive brainstorming.

My memory isn't awesome, and I do find it helpful to rediscover old, half-discarded ideas and reassess them with fresh eyes. Sometimes I genuinely won't even remember writing them, other than that they appear in my files and sound like me. It's a great way to cut through my own inner cheerleader/critic and basically ask, without emotions running high, is this any good?

I can't speak to the potential benefits of good memory, since that's not something I have, but there are certain obvious downsides to having a crummy memory. One specific to the creative process is that I have a tendency to fall into particular habits, get frustrated, and forget about other techniques/approaches/tips I've read about or practiced in the past to break out of that frustration. My mental toolbox feels smaller than it should be.

One may wish to distinguish between episodic, procedural, and conceptual memory. IANACP (cognitive psychologist) but my understanding from limited study (much reading and a few low level uni courses for fun in my late 40s) is that these are very different things.

I have crap episodic memory (events), adequate procedural memory (esp. for things learned long ago, but learning new vim motions is really tough, and excellent conceptual memory.

I’ve even deliberately avoided trying to remember events or how-tos in the belief they might take away from conceptual, which is what matters most to me.

I’m a cyber security guy. Conceptual is everything.

YMMV, of course.

Most of the time, we can see farther if we're on the shoulder of giant. Having a good memory allow you to have a big memory of snippets you can reuse and adapt. You will need to be wary of not being a simple copy machine, which is require attention. I know some like to explore on their own the world though and re create the wheel by themselve, in the hope of finding a new way. I respect that, it can lead to great result if you have enough courage to endure this path.

I find that mixing both is the best path forward - put yourself in strange land, but with some solid foundation to help you.

In this day and age, I find it impossible to remember so much with all the noise.

What I have done is try to utilize the technique in the book Building a Second Brain along with the ideas from How to Take Smart Notes regarding the slipbox method.

My app of choice is Obsidian backed by a notes repo that is synced to a private git repo. This gives me access to all of my notes on any device I have.

The one issue I have not worked out exactly is how to review ideas on some frequency. I kind of feel Anki spaced repetition method does not really fit what I want to do with these free form ideas.

I'm really badly faceblind and besides could probably lose a searchlight in a letterbox, but I'm bright so I solve (and re-solve!) lots of things from first principles whenever I need them. I don't seem to have trouble coming up with good hypotheses under pressure and I'm a good inventor.

Anyway for what it's worth I think memory is a faculty like an arm or leg, but creativity is quite different and pertains somehow to the person's "spirit".

Heh, the title is a good example of a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden-path_sentence

“a good memory aid” does what?

I believe having a good memory can both aid and hinder creativity. While a good memory helps with recalling information, it can also limit thinking outside the box and exploring new ideas. It's a balance worth considering!