Forgetfulness Could Be a Sign of Intelligence?
Some people forget things that some people think are worth remembering. Also, our brain agrees that it is unnecessary to know everything. Since always, remembering has been the most powerful of the mental features.
But, scientists from the University of Toronto, Canada, believe that forgetting is likewise important. One paper which was published in Neuron concentrated on various researches that examined the neurobiology behind forgetting and remembering (1). The results showed that these two processes have a mutual interaction.
Furthermore, Professor Blake Richards, the author of the review study, says that memory serves to help decision-making. So, our brains achieve this by removing the irrelevant details but keeping the important things that help smart decisions.
Moreover, forgetting is a mechanism in the brain that frees space for relevant information. In this way, the brain is not wasting space or energy on remembering unimportant information.
The brain does not perceive facts as facts. It keeps its focus on making a general picture of the occurrences or some uncomplicated version of information that would help in the decision-making process. This means that learning things by heart is not something that the brain would willingly do for you.
If you forget facts, then your brain is capable of gathering the most important and relevant information from them into a general picture.
According to Professor Richards, how much you are going to remember or forget things depends on how likely is for those things to come back to your life. In addition, Professor Richards explains that the brain does not remember information that you can easily reach, such as facts you can always find on Google.
Instead, your brain remembers things that are necessary to commemorate. Also, he recommends we develop a routine in which we are going to clean up our memory (2). One way to do this is by hitting the gym. Or, you can do whatever type of physical exercise you want regularly.
He says that physical activity increases the number of neurons in the hippocampus. And, when the number of neurons in your brain is bigger, you are going to forget things. However, you should now worry because your brain knows what you need to keep in mind.
Besides freeing space for new and important information, your brain will classify the existing information to be more helpful in decision-making. Nonetheless, Professor Richardson says that forgetting occasional details is a sign that your memory is healthy and doing its function.
But, if you forget more than you should, then that may be concerning. In that case, you should consult your doctor.
Finally, we can conclude that being a forgetful person is not that bad, right?
