Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: neilep on 17/04/2008 11:46:35
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Dear All,
Why do we not remember eveything we see/hear the first time we experience it ?
Especially in study !......Is there a recognized ratio to what is remembered after just one experience of the new data ?
Why does it take many attempts at studying the same thing before we ' know ' it ?
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yeah it would be handy if we could just flip through loads of books and become a doctor in one day :P
but even if you could do that and remember every word, you've only remembered the data, to "know" something is to understand it too.
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yeah it would be handy if we could just flip through loads of books and become a doctor in one day :P
but even if you could do that and remember every word, you've only remembered the data, to "know" something is to understand it too.
THANK YOU for your post Madidus_Scientia and welcome to the site.
Yep, knowing a thing does not of course mean understanding a thing......that would indeed be a bonus !
Though, as skills are learn-able I still wonder why it takes practice to recall the data efficiently and complete.
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The brain cannot remember everything - it simply lacks the capacity to do so, so it has to prioritise what it remembers. In fact, innovation is dependent upon our being able to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, and therefore requires that there be gaps in our knowledge.
The best way to work out what is important to remember is to work out what keeps cropping up over and over again. If you come across a particular relationship or incident only once, it may just be a freak, and not worth remembering. If you come over the same phenomenon over and over again, you can reasonably get the impression that this is significant, and worth remembering.
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Thanks neilep,
where did my actual post go though?
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Thanks neilep,
where did my actual post go though?
It's back !!....sorry about that !!!
Seems I accidentally deleted it !!...I don't recall doing so (lol..bad memory) but there is site glitch at the moment which is under investigation.
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ah, i see, no worries, was just wondering
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ah, i see, no worries, was just wondering
No worries.....I wonder a lot !!
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The brain cannot remember everything - it simply lacks the capacity to do so, so it has to prioritise what it remembers. In fact, innovation is dependent upon our being able to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, and therefore requires that there be gaps in our knowledge.
The best way to work out what is important to remember is to work out what keeps cropping up over and over again. If you come across a particular relationship or incident only once, it may just be a freak, and not worth remembering. If you come over the same phenomenon over and over again, you can reasonably get the impression that this is significant, and worth remembering.
How do you know it doesn't have the capacity to rememeber everything ?.....perhaps the future of humankind lays in the development of the capacity of our brains. Granted, most of mine is redundant but I am sure it can be kick started to remember lots of stuff !