Natasha Anguelouch Week #13: Musings on Memory – 3/22
Memory is interesting.
At times it is elusive, like when trying to recall the meaning of a certain word while comprehending the prompt for an APEng timed write. At others it is irritating or even disturbing, such as when memories one would rather forget keep resurfacing.
People have been fascinated by memory for centuries. My psychology textbook has a unit dedicated to the concept and discusses the various scientists who tirelessly pursued (and continue to pursue) the answers to how memory works and the best ways to enhance it. Even though I spent a long time studying memory I still do not thoroughly understand it, and perhaps I never will, because I honestly do not have the patience…or memory!
Memory is relevant to everybody yet extremely underappreciated. It is a prime example of something that most take for granted until it is gone. We rarely notice how many things we are able to remember (our friends’ names, homework assignments, that test tomorrow) but too often criticize ourselves for little slips (oops, the test was in Math not Spanish) that inevitably occur as our brains struggle to process torrents of information every second.
I hope all of you take this seemingly irrelevant monologue as a sign to be kinder to yourselves. Your brain works overtime (so to speak) as it analyzes several stimuli at once--otherwise known as parallel processing--and if it occasionally forgets an important piece of information, do not be surprised. It is merely an indication that you are human. Instead, try to applaud yourself for everything you can successfully remember, because there is a lot!
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Hi Natasha, I read your blog, and I find your description of memory to be very interesting. The human memory is indeed something that we often take for granted. We often grieve the things we forget, but rarely appreciate the things we remember. The fact that our memory is not perfect shows that we are human, and make mistakes.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, I really liked your positive view on memory and human beings' capacity for memory. As you mentioned, memory is something that relates to everybody, yet people are more likely to criticize themselves on the little things they forget. We tend to not appreciate our memory and how much we can remember.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, I love how you reminded me that while there are things that we do not want to forget, there are also things that we do want to forget! This goes to show powerful memories are, and how much of a wide range they carry as well. I love to think about the memories from a long time ago which I have not forgotten, yet I often punish myself for not remembering certain things at the same time. After all, there is nothing we can really do about that, but practice does indeed make perfect!
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha,
ReplyDeleteI often find myself getting frustrated when I am unable to recall certain important information. However, I think I just have to realize that my brain processes a lot of information and I need to give it a break. Something that plays a significant role in this is sleep, an easy way to give your brain the rest it needs. Lots of mental processes take place while you are sleeping. Thoughts and memories get stored in critical areas of the brain. This cannot happen unless you are asleep. Researchers also say that not sleeping takes a toll on memory and learning. People are unable to stay focused if they are sleepy and they may encounter tons of other issues.
Hi Natasha, It always seems strange that what we are able to remember is a subconscious decision that we really have no control over. We often forget things we need like on a test. Still our memory does a pretty good job at reminding us of something embarrassing we did in elementary school. I only wish there was a way to choose what we remembered and what we forget.
ReplyDeleteHey Natasha, I agree memory does often go unappreciated to people sometimes. I feel like people just don't realize how important memories are to us and what nostalgia can do to people. I really like how u were able to tie it into school also and use that correlation through your memories of the class and the content.
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, I think part of the reason why we fail to notice the large amount of things we can easily remember is because remembering those things has become second nature to us. We remember so many important pieces of information, and yet fixate on what we cannot. Like you've said in your post, it is important to take a "glass half full" kind of approach—we should be proud of what we remember!
ReplyDeleteHi Natasha, after reading your blog, I appreciated my memory a little more. I can only imagine the struggle of having no memory. Having to learn simple things every day again because you can not remember them or being reminded of small things like the names of people every day. Memory is essential for everyone, and I hope that we can have an excellent memory for as long as possible.
ReplyDelete