I have a terrible memory. Now that I’m 35 and part of a new age group, I think I can say that without someone replying, “How could you forget? You’re so young!” Like it was my fault, like I intentionally reprogrammed my brain to remove the bit of information that says “Nope, you’ve already taken your insulin and you won’t need to again for a whole other 24 hours.” I can put a bag of steam-able corn in the microwave, forget, and think I got a dud from Orville Redenbacher when the timer dings. Still, as I read about it, the human mind is amazing. Specifically, what’s fascinating about the brain is it doesn’t forget anything. We just have a hard time recalling.
Oddly enough, our brains seem to be designed like an adding machine hooked up to a super computer. Something I used to hear and recently confirmed again is human brains don’t forget anything. It’s our ability to recall that can short-circuit. However, according to Dr. Jeremy Dean, a psychologist and author of PsyBlog and HealthiestBlog.com, forgetting is actually a good thing.
Here’s the good news, according to Dean, forgetting helps you learn. Have you ever used the search function on your computer from the start menu? The one that searches every single item stored on your computer? If you have a full computer and the search item is pretty common, like “where I left my keys,” you’ll get dozens of results. You have to sort through various folders, through the documents and pictures, until you find what you’re looking for. This is time consuming, Dean argues, and so when your brain needs only the most recent information, it can’t afford to present every item related to “keys” when you’re late for work. By dragging past recollections of “keys” to the “forget folder,” your brain has far less work to help you get to work.
My argument is forgetting gives us more control and accountability over our own brains. We have to choose what to remember. Ladies, you know it’s special when your man remembers your anniversary or birthday. It’s a sign off effort on your behalf.
The downside to remembering everything would be all the garbage in our lives we’d rather forget. Even the things we don’t forget, we only recall in a haze because we haven’t actively worked to hold on to it. My sweetheart Amanda and I had troubles early on like many couples. If I could recall word for word, feeling for feeling, those instances, who knows where we’d be now?
As I must draw to a close, dear reader, let me tell you how to find Dr. Dean’s work to read more on his work with human memory. Find the article “Memory and Recall: 10 Amazing Facts You Should know.” Read how he says memory makes a person and more on memory and learning.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Memory…and something else