Forgetting on Purpose

“The act of forgetting crafts and hones data in the brain as if carving a state from a block of marble.  It enables us to make sense of the world by clearing a path to the thoughts that are truly valuable.  It also aids emotional recovery.  “You want to forget embarrassing things,’ says cognitive neuroscientist Zara Bergstrom of the University of Cambridge. ‘Or if you argue with your partner, you want to move on.’ In recent years researchers have amassed evidence for our ability to willfully forget.  They have sketched out a neural circuit underlying this skill analogous to the one that inhibits impulsive actions.

“The emerging data (provide the first scientific support or Sigmund Freud’s controversial theory of repression, by which unwanted memories are shoved into the subconscious.)  The new evidence suggests that the ability to repress is quite useful.  Those who cannot do this well tend to let thoughts stick in their mind.  They ruminate, which can pave a path to depression.  Weak restraints on memory may similarly impede the emotional recovery of trauma victims.  Lacking brakes on mental intrusions, individuals with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are also more likely to be among the forgetless (to coin a term).  In short, memory - and forgetting - can shape your personality./”

Ingrid Wickelgren, “Trying to Forget”

..."our ability to willfully forget." I really like that phrase. It's a nerdy post, I know, but I think we GrrEighties need to be reminded about "normal forgetting" at the same time we don't forget the importance of learning new things.