Human Memory
Human memory comes in two broad types based on whether the content can be verbalized.
Why split this way?
Declarative content can be shared by talking. Non-declarative content (like riding a bike) lives in different brain systems and can’t.
- Declarative Memory
- Transferable by talking. Ex: episodic memories (events) and semantic memories (facts)
- Non-declarative Memory
- Not transferable by talking. Ex: classically conditioned responses, procedural memories (motor movement)
How fast we forget: Forgetting Curve.
The classic computer-style pipeline:
- Encoded into memory (Encoding (Memory))
- Stored in memory (Storage (Memory))
- Retrieved from memory (Retrieval (Memory))
Not the perfect metaphor
When you retrieve a file from your computer, you don’t expect it to have changed. You’d be surprised if passages were deleted, altered, or new ones inserted.
This is exactly the nature of memory.
Memory is not a recording. Memories are reconstructed in your mind each time they’re used.
Lego bricks
Each time you rebuild, you might skip a brick, swap a colour, or add new ones. Memories show the same three failure modes:
- Omissions
- Substitutions
- Insertions
Warning
Our least accurate memories are those we think about the most, because reconstruction introduces errors each time.
When the reconstructed memory is of something that never happened, it’s Confabulation.
Better remembering
Don’t remember what, remember why. Get the explanation for how things work.
I feel myself more and more reliant on Obsidian. I don’t think this is a good thing, you want to be able to retrieve information fast. I find myself forgetting a lot of things.
From Chester Chung:
- If you’re intrinsically curious about the question, you’re more likely to remember the answer