how can our brains remember that we forgot something, but it can’t remember what we forgot
In: Biology
I think it’s because your brain forms memories by association to something else, rather than specifically storing and recalling the data as a computer would. So, the association is a trigger to recall a specific memory. This is supported by the memory “trick” of recalling a list of things more easily if you attach it to items in your house and recalling this list by imagining walking through your house and seeing each item.
For example: You need to bring a letter to the post office on your way to work tomorrow. You drive to work every day. The next morning, you see your keys and remember you had to drive somewhere besides work, but you may not remember specifically it was to drop a letter off because your memory was in relation to something else. Not specified letter itself. So you remember you had to do something because your keys are associated with a memory, but the memory itself was not properly recalled.
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