I know there have been cases where a person can have ‘total recall’ after an injury (assuming head)… but why can’t our brains just dig and remember everything?
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There’s a difference between short term and long term memory. Think of it like a a water filter. The good ones start by filtering out big particles, then eventually they move down to super fine particles. Your memory starts with your senses – everything you see, hear, feel in the moment. Moves to your perception- your senses give so much information that we filter out what’s needed in the moment. That bird flying off in the distance is much less important than say keeping your car in the lane, or other cars. That bird is long gone.
Even through regular perception, we just ignore half of what our senses tell us. We take the useful bits and throw the rest away. This stuff was never recorded. Your short term memory works in the same way. We’re more focused on what’s going on in the here and now, so only keep a record of the important things. Now think of making a record of things overnight. Long term memory again filters all this input and keeps a record of the really important things.
Your long term memory is going to keep a record of the really important things. Everything else? Gone. Granted, some things might even hang on for a bit, but they can disappear after a longer while if they had no reason to recall for so long.
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