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Subscribe to RSSThe better you can forget, the better you’ll be able to remember, scientists now say.
To remember facts that are important in your life today, you have to be able to let go of information that you no longer need, says Benjamin Storm, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
“For example, if someone asks you who is the current Speaker of the House, you might remember Newt Gingrich or Nancy Pelosi,” explains Storm, co-author of a study on the subject published in Current Directions in Psychological Science. “That, of course, is incorrect. So you have to have a way of not thinking about Gingrich and Pelosi, so you can remember that the current Speaker is John Boehner.”
Your brain is stuffed full of information and for you to have important information at your fingertips -- or the tip of your tongue -- it has to forget facts that aren’t currently needed. It’s like your belongings: Important stuff you might store on your desk. Less important stuff you’ll toss up in the attic. You can get the stuff out of the attic if you really need it, but it’s harder to access.
To get a sense of how the brain forgets in order to remember, Storm set up some experiments. In one, volunteers were given a list of six words that were all related: a list of six fruits, for example. Then the volunteers were given a simple test in which the category was listed along with the first letter of three items followed by a blank to be filled in -- so you might see “fruits,” followed by an “o” for orange or an “a” for apple. Next the volunteers were given the same test, but this time with cuing letters for all six items.
The volunteers easily remembered the three items they’d originally been tested on. The other three were very hard to recall. Their memories of these items had been lost.
The experiment explains what happens when we get a new phone number, Storm says. Once you’ve learned the new number, it’s almost impossible to recall the old one. And that makes sense. Imagine how hard it would be if you remembered every single phone number you’d ever had.
As it turns out, some people are better forgetters than others, says Storm. And these people tend to be better at problem solving. Something about the way their brains organize information helps them to think, he explains.
Are you better at remembering -- or forgetting?
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Leave a Comment:
I remember every phone number I've ever had starting from about age 3 or 4 when my mother drilled it into my mind along with my address and my full name. I also remember every work phone number I've ever had starting as a teenager. I am currently 65 and retired so I would say it isn't all that hard to remember meaningful information from the past.
Ditto except I remember every prior address in detail. Changed address over 50 times in my life and over 60 showing no signs for forgetting old ones to stuff new ones in. I don't believe the scientific accuracy of this article a bit--especially when there are FOUR known proven people with total recall memories.
Maybe there's something to this. Wasn't it Einstein who advised people to never bother to remember anything they could look up?
So how do you explain those with total recall of which there are FOUR known persons certified to remember everything? Just goes to show you how dumb we still are making statements like this. I don't believe it one iota which I stuffed my brain in 8 years of college and it showed no signs of losing old information. Total hogwash.
Seriously? Four people in the entire world, and they're your argument against this finding? Apparently your 8 years of college didn't include statistics.
LOLOLMAO @ USCgrad!
Maybe there is still hope for me. I am beging to frighten myself I am so forgetful.
Hey, fugetaboutit...
This article is total rubbish...
My problem is not that I don't remember stuff. The problem is that I don't pay attention. Too much time being distracted and thinking about other stuff. When I am paying attention, I'm ok.
Horse-pucky! Forget about it!
I was about to write a comment but I can't remember what it was now. Sorry.
Don't be too quick to discount the value of forgetting non-essential information. It may be that you just THINK it's great that you remember all the little details in your life.
My sister has almost total recall -- and is one of the most unhappy people you'd ever meet. She can't let go of anything. Everyone around her believes that she makes herself miserable pulling up all the little conversations, attitudes, and even slights from her past -- but she's convinced that her grasp of events from 10, 20, 30, even 40 years ago makes her somehow better and more, I dunno, thoroughly researched than those of us whose brains seems to cleanse better.
I'm probably wrong about this, but living with someone who remembers every address or phone number or college lesson they ever had might actually be a rather frightful experience (Halloween allusion, since it's so close...)
Those "useless" things they tell you to forget about can actually be useful when it comes to trivia stuff. Personally and honestly, I believe there is no such thing as useless knowledge (unless someone makes disgusting, crude, etc. unnecessary comments). Everything can come in handy at some point. For example, cops and detectives have to remember a LOT of stuff that may seem useless to us. But it's necessary for them because for any crime, they need to remember if there are certain links and stuff. Like I said, most useless information CAN be used. For most of us, it only seems useless because we stick to what we know and use information for what we need. But if you had a job where you needed a bit of everything, it would come in real handy.
I forgot what I was typing.