Is it true that when we forget one thing it means that it was not important? Contrary to common belief “I forgot it … it will mean that it was not important“Modern neuroscience reveals that our brain forgets following complex mechanisms that often they have no correlation with the importance subjective or objective of the memory, but are more linked to the contextat emotions linked to the memory and how many times we recall it. The answer therefore seems to be negative: forget something does not automatically mean that that thing was not important. Human memory is influenced by multiple factors that often operate regardless of the importance information. Understand these mechanisms helps us not only to improve ours learning strategiesbut also to have pity towards ourselves and our poor memory!
The mechanisms of memory: because we forget things
There human memory is a system complex And dynamicnot a simple storage device. When we forget something, it is rarely because our brain determined that the information “was not important”. In fact, forgetting something is perfectly natural and even adaptiveand responds to multiple neurological and contextual variables. There are more and more studies that suggest that forgetfulness is not simply a bankruptcy of recoverybut a trial And necessary for the optimal function of memory.
The model of “decay of traces“proposed by the psychologist Hermann Habbinghaus back in 1885, partially remodeled by modern research that put the forgetfulness to the center as an active process, shows that memories tend to weaken naturally with the pass if they don’t come reactivatedas a footprint on the sand that gradually faded with the wind, regardless of how deep they were initially. This process, whose founding concept is still preponderant and is known as “oblivion curve“, it is only partially influenced by our perception of how much it is important or not something we have to remember.
Furthermore, the phenomenon of “interference“, documented in some research at the beginning of the century, shows that new information can overwrite or interfere with the previous ones. It is like when we learn a new phone number that makes us forget the old one, even if the latter could still be important for us. Particularly significant are the studies of Anderson And Levy on what we could call “Direct forgetfulness“, who demonstrate how the brain can actively suppress some memories, often for protect Psychological well -being, even when these are emotionally important. It is similar to when we avoid thinking about a painful event: it is not that the event is not important, on the contrary, it is precisely its emotional importance that leads the brain to protect us “hiding” it temporarily.
The subjective importance and the factors that influence memory
Contrary to the idea that we forget what is not important, scientific research highlights how often Let’s forget exactly what we would like to rememberwhile apparently insignificant details remain impressed. According to Metanalysis, a statistical technique that combines the results of multiple scientific studies, from 2009 published on Emotion Reviewtheemotional impact – Not the objective importance! – Determinely determines what we remember. Events with strong emotional chargepositive or negative, come coded more deeply thanks to the activation of theamigdalawhich enhances the episodic memory.
That’s why we remember vividly a Small embarrassing accident years ago (emotionally intense but objectively not very relevant), while we could forget Easily crucial but “aseptic” information presented during an important lesson. All this is true until pain threshold we were talking about earlier: if the emotional intensity is too muchwe could end up removing the memory instead of keeping it, triggering i psychological protection mechanisms.
Other decisive factors include the Learning contextthe perceptual salience and the so -called “Von Restorff effect“, described in the research of Huntaccording to which distinctive elements or unusual They are better remembered than common ones. We think of a series of identical objects including one is of a different color: we will more easily remember the different one not because more important, but simply because it stands out than the others.
In addition, another phenomenon called “Memory dependent on the context“shows that the recovery of memories is facilitated when we are in one state or physicist similar to that in which the information has been learned. A practical example: a student who studies by listening to a particular musical genre could better remember that information if he could listen to the same music during the exam, or those who learn to swim in the pool could have difficulty remembering the technique when he is in the open sea, despite the vital importance of this ability.
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