A Leaky Memory May Be a Good Thing

[Judi Lynn]

“Active forgetting” could make your brain more efficient.

TOM SIEGFRIED
11:46 AM ET

In the quest to fend off forgetfulness, some people build a palace of memory.

It’s a method for memorizing invented in ancient times by (legend has it) the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos, more recently made popular by multiple best-selling books (and the “mind palace” of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes).

Memory palaces provide imaginary architectural repositories for storing and retrieving anything you would like to remember. Sixteen centuries ago, St. Augustine spoke of “treasures of innumerable images” stored in his “spacious palaces of memory.” But 21st-century scientists who study memory have identified an important point to remember: Even the most luxurious palace of memory needs trash cans.

“There are memories that we don’t want and we don’t need,” says neuroscientist Maria Wimber. “Forgetting is good and an adaptive thing.”

More:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/how-active-forgetting-makes-memory-more-efficient/580273/

[klook]

1. Very interesting and valuable article - thanks. (nt)