This is the third part of a study of the article
The Seven Sins of Memory by Daniel L. Schacter
Persistence
The last issue our memory mechanism has is persistence.
This is not a problem with remembering correctly or remembering. This is a problem of not being able to forget.
Persistence are thoughts we try to forget but that keep popping up in our minds.
Trying to not think of something is pretty difficult.
Though this may happen for most of us by innocent images, in certain people, this can happen with traumatic events causing chronic fear, stress and phobias.
Memories containing a certain mental/ emotional state will be more accessible when in that same state.
Although thoughts can prevent these images from coming, consciously trying to remove the thought will actually make it stay more.
This is called the rebound effect.
Next time something like this happens, don’t say “ don’t think of it” to yourself, instead try thinking of something else.
Are the “sins” really bad things?
Forgetting is necessary as it helps us adapt to a new environment.
Without it, we would keep the same old habits that are of no use.
Our brain retains information that is needed and makes it more accessible. That is why the less we think of something, the harder it becomes to recall it.
No blocking would lead to an enormous amount of information running around in our heads and we would react to everything around us that we have seen before.
Blocking, looked at from another perspective, is what helps us focus on one thing by preventing our reaction to other, unnecessary things.
Biases are also patterns we create in our brains to be able to process things faster.
They’re like habits, for thinking. If we were to think about bad things and good things equally, we wouldn’t notice many dangers surrounding us.
The bias makes us remember more bad stuff as it will be more useful to be able to think of the last time you touched a hot pan and hurt yourself than the last time you touched a cold one which didn’t hurt you.
Though not all “sins” are covered, memory and it’s issues are things that have stayed with us thoroughout human evolution. Even if the times have changed, most of them are still very useful and used on a daily basis without us noticing it.
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