Forgetting Division
Forgetting faces, voices, people, and dreams is so common it hurts.
I am young enough to find the thrill of procrastination exciting to the moon. Hence, having lost my eleven, I sit on the twelfth hour to study–or, the household compels me thus.
An acute dissociation erupts as my pen hits paper, jailing a dividend. Neurons lie blank.
Then, I consider concealing the fact, being old enough to know how Mom must react. Yet, the fear of forgetting the basic operation overtakes.
Was it the vacation or something else? Regardless, I announce, I have forgotten how to divide.
Causes of Forgetting: What drives the brain to forgetting?
Alphabetically, some superficial causes of forgetting:
Alcoholism
Alcohol generates far more than blackouts and last for days, forming fewer lasting memories.
Constant worry about the future diverts focus, complicating retrieving or creating memories.
Depression
What could be worse than melancholic tears? Depression also makes you forget.
Insomnia
Get enough sleep, because forgetfulness links to insomnia and its yields, e.g. anxiety and depression.
Medicine
Some medications make you forgetful.
Stress
Stress begets forgetfulness like anxiety, and halts learning.
Thyroid
Thyroid malfunction may cause forgetfulness, so get it checked via blood test.
Why Do We Forget Some Things And Not Others?
Context keeps memories relevant, i.e. the lack of practice weakens them.
Memory decay
Unless reinforced, memories weaken with time. Therefore, only some stay pungent.
Retroactive interference
Learning new things may shuffle, i.e. overwrite, old ones.
Retrieval error
Some memories stay intact. Even so, we cannot retrieve them, e.g., tip-of-the-tongue memories.
Self-reference effect
Our brains prioritize facts that are of immediate concern to us.
False memories
False memories increase and pollute more with time.
Memories from spectacular events, e.g. those occurring once in a lifetime, stay with us for longer.
Why Do We Forget Certain Memories?
As the Northward heading tells, memory permanence needs social proof, reinforcement, and retrieval. Smart avoidance, involving yourself, and bold milestones help, too.
In short, nature has it that all beings evolve to work better quicker. This rule includes man, who we now know grew to biped from quadruped.
Furthermore, paralleling these changes extrude behavioural ones. Hence, we cut out the gist of our interactions. Thus, ignored noise fades out.
Above all, this streamlines the brain. For instance, dishwashing and balance hardwire into the brain. In sum, we keep these forever whereas we lose noise.
Why Do We Forget People’s Voices?
Many people depart, from our lives and this world. We remember but their boldest traits. And first goes the voice.
Data suggest language systems for speech decoding and matching as separate. The matter is complex, as are all matters of the brain. Still, we can describe it in simpler ways: people who cannot understand speech may know one by voice.
The widespread notion is, you forget someone’s voice before anything else (of them). As Broca’s area, an unrelated centre, controls meaning, the voice is the wrapping on conversation, the gift. Thus, we throw it away after it fulfils its purpose.
Why Do We Forget Our Dreams?
Dreams occur during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. However, their discovery amid non-REM sleep has made them even more mysterious.
We have advanced technology–or do we, as researchers are still unsure about dreams? Their contents’ origin remains undefined yet explored by Freud and numerous others. In addition, they fade away faster than dew drops before the heat peaks at noon.
Again, that neurochemical reactions wipe out dreams presides as chief verdict in this parley. Everyone says one thing: there is a lot more to learn about dreams. And there is, and I believe it will revolutionise our world.
Are We Really Forgetting Pain?
Saying a bee sting hurts would be an understatement, and so we associate bees to a sear. Yet, could you experience that brief pain twice? In particular, could you recall how that bee sting felt?
By contrast, different rules bar emotional pain. The aspect of human beauty circling pain, reminiscence, and suffering astounds us. Though we forget physical scars, mental ones piggyback from man to child, as Freud described. Thus, pain proves even more complex.
In a nutshell, pain creates memories, declarative or subconscious. Nevertheless, these memories garner emotional responses and learning but never sensations.
Conclusion
Neurology, “nerve study”, is, in essence, the brain studying itself.
By volition, high on adrenaline, teenaged I disclose the matter. I could before, but cannot divide anymore.
“Practise!” Mom said. Still, another said, “Work smart, not hard.”
