Anna Paul Week 15; Forgetting
Forgetting
Many of our blogs so far about memory have consisted of the science behind it. In some of my blogs, I talked about the importance of them and how I feel that it helps us grow. But for this blog, I found an article that focuses on answering the question Can We Get Better at Forgetting?
Benedict Carey wrote an article that stated how “memory is a troublemaker.” Can you remember a time where you remembered an embarrassing moment of your past? I definitely have. Memories can show to be your greatest strength, an ally or your worst enemy.
They tend to hold special moments that we would want to remember and yet they can also keep more painful memories. They are protective, they tend to “hold onto red flags” that can “wave back to you in the future.”
Carey also believes that forgetting can be protective too. Say you might have a memory that is quite harmful for you to remember. In my view, I feel that letting go of certain memories is a way for someone to be able to move on and heal from them. Not all memories are defined to be good and safe. They can harm and damage you in many ways.
"Pinterest."
Many people view forgetting as a negative thing since we are “choosing” to not remember specific events. Yet “the ability to forget,” from what a study states, “allows us to think better and prioritize” specific memories.
Additionally, it is not entirely our fault that we forget. Sometimes in our sleep, our brain sorts out of memories in ways to “keep or purge.” It also uses the “mental flexibility to grasp concepts” from a “morass of stored information.”
In this view, forgetting can be an advantage and a disadvantage to us. It is just up to us to decide how we can control it for the better.
Hello Anna Paul! I am back for another session of Anna blogs! For this week on memory, I am intrigued by the concept of forgetting that you took with this blog. We often take for granted our memory and our ability to filter out information to prioritize what is important. But what do we consider to be important? And what if we disagree with the way that our brain is filtering out the information. I also find memories and forgetting so terribly saddening. I hate to be so depressing, but when our parents die, all we will have left of them is our memories. But our memories of them have been filtered. So much of them is already forgotten a few nights after an event happened. All those small memories of our parents which we would have cherished now that they are gone have also left with them and as time goes on even more memories of them will go till we are left with whispers of memories of people who we can barely visualize. I have read stories of people who lost loved ones and over the years struggle to recall their faces and the sound of their voice. That really terrifies me. To forget my parents after they are gone and lose all the things that they do for me. I feel like this is one of the major losses that come with forgetting.
ReplyDeleteYour blog, while short, was very insightful. When I first read the question you posed, I was intrigued. I had never thought of thinking like this. Most people in this cohort have talked about memory’s strengths. They discuss how its the most powerful tool a human has, while you dive into its complexities, creating a very sophisticated blog while you were at it. However, I feel that being able to remember “embarrassing [moments]” is not that big of a con, rather, it could be viewed as a benefit. Most of the negative moments we remember serve as lessons. Just like how failures make us who we are, these moments share a similar notion. But you’re right, the ability to forget does benefit us in many ways. I appreciate how you made the blog concise and easy to read, while simultaneously packing each sentence with strong information. Overall, this blog was a great read, and I think you excel at conveying your thoughts.
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