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For those of you who have access to WSJ, here's an interesting article to ponder.
In a nutshell, it cites a few studies about how "senior moments" actually help the brain process thoughts more efficiently, stimulates creativity, and ultimately helps you focus.
A few quotes to help stimulate conversation in this thread, for those of us who can't read the article:
"Forgetting can help us block out useless or outdated information and keep us from fixating on a single set of ideas or thoughts. And contrary to the notion that forgetfulness reflects a withering of brain cells, scientists say it can actually be driven by the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region linked to memory."
"Still, forgetting can serve a purpose, enabling us to think more clearly by eliminating interference from competing thoughts. This pattern is called retrieval-induced forgetting. It’s directed in part by the prefrontal cortex, which controls executive functions involved in mental control and decision-making. It makes it easier to access memories that get used a lot, and more difficult to retrieve memories that compete with them, says Michael C. Anderson, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Cambridge in England and a leading researcher on the topic. He likens the process to search-engine optimization for the brain."
“Our memory systems didn’t evolve to be good at Trivial Pursuit or ‘Jeopardy!’ but to enable us to be smart about how we think and act,” says Blake Richards, assistant professor of neuroscience and machine learning at the University of Toronto"
"By clearing the mind of past patterns and practices, forgetting can make way for breakthrough thinking, says Benjamin Storm, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz"
But seriously, your first (blue) quote implies that our brains must purge old memories to allow new ones that are constantly being made.
Ha, and here I’d been thinking it was laziness, y’know—not bothering to retain some things so that there would be “room” for more important stuff. Funny that my inclination might have a practical, neurological basis.
I don't know. Every once in a while I think of a situation or person I haven't thought of in 30-40 years. My brain isn't doing a very good job of purging. That memory was tucked away somewhere for a very long time and then popped up. What's going on with that?
I don't know. Every once in a while I think of a situation or person I haven't thought of in 30-40 years. My brain isn't doing a very good job of purging. That memory was tucked away somewhere for a very long time and then popped up. What's going on with that?
The problem is that we don’t get to decide what to purge. Hence, remembering trivial, long-buried stuff when something triggers the brain to retrieve it.
I don't know. Every once in a while I think of a situation or person I haven't thought of in 30-40 years. My brain isn't doing a very good job of purging. That memory was tucked away somewhere for a very long time and then popped up. What's going on with that?
Maybe it was buried under a bunch of memories that have been purged.
Save a lot of money on books and movies. Just watch/read the same one over and over....
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