WHY DO WE FORGET THINGS???

In this vast world do you know who our ultimate teacher is???... It is our Memory. It is the brain that gives us the power to remember as a result to which, we can continue our existence. Do you remember your childhood days??? When you got close to the oven and your hand got burnt and you made it a point to be careful with fire… it is actually your memory that helped you to remember the incident as a lesson. It is something that is organized and systematized. But have you ever thought then why do we forget things that are even important???

The answer to this question depends upon various factors:

a) At times you tend to forget the information in your brain as you are unable to find the right retrieval cue. It is exactly like if a box of cards, where if one tries to find a particular card, the person is unable to find a specific card as they are not arranged alphabetically or according to any other method. Therefore it becomes necessary to create a mental arrangement (cue) for every important information we take in.

b) There are also instances where you forget only because you do not ‘go over’ the processed information as you do not expect them to be worthy enough to bring them to surface resulting in decay of such memory.

c) Certain information are lost in the process of ‘interference’, which can be proactive as well as retroactive. Guess what? Proactive interference is where old memories distorts the new one and retroactive interference, where new information corrupts he already present memory. In such a case you need to create mental hooks to materials as you learn. Creating cues always prevents interference.

d) Can you recollect the instance where you were making the guest list and as suddenly the bell rang and you went to answer it, you forgot two three names for the list??? It is so because one work interferes with the other. So if there are too many works to do, one needs to mentally repeat them and hold them in the mind until all the works are done.

e) During exams when you are busy memorising your syllabus, after sometimes you feel that you are forgetting the previous information. 

                                        Do you know why??? 

This is because you do not give your brain enough time to create impression, as a result the new one replaces the already studied portions. In order to get rid of this situation you need to give your memory certain amount of time, after which you learn each portion so that, it is able to imprint.

Although you are not aware, yet you will be happy to know that your brain has the elasticity and the potential to store immense amount of information. Therefore next time you can check your calibre by not listing the work and trying to memorise them mentally and see how much are you able to recollect.