We never forget how to swim , balance on a bicycle, drive a stick shift car , if we learn it once, yet none of us remember the chemistry equations studied in school.
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I think muscle memory starts to take over for stuff like that, so the brain doesn’t really need to think much for them, the muscles know what to do… same with walking, you don’t think about it, you just do it.. it’s really a controlled fall, the signals the brain gets for that stuff is more regularly triggered, making it easier to execute.. that’s how I’d try to explain it
If you only went swimming once then didn’t for years, you would forget. If you studied the same equations over and over, you would never forget.
Repetition matters. A lot.
Basically your neurons fire together and form a response. Your desired response is swimming (let’s say).
The first few times you swim you activate certain neurons that form a pattern. The pattern is pretty new so you’re not good at it. The more you use the pattern, the better it becomes recognisable or “iconic”.
Oh we’re under the water? I have this wacky neuronal pattern that fits this situation just fine!
If you stop using that pattern it becomes less and less “iconic”, like a band that was popular but now it’s not really forgotten but not as mainstream. It’s harder to recall.
If you like that pattern, it makes it harder to dissapear. I never enjoyed math so I forgot all the formulas ever, even if I had a 12 year schooling programme that shoved math down my throat. But I always remember how to swim because I like swimming.
Even if I remember how to swim and I enjoy it, I will still be “rusty”. Not as good as before if I haven’t been swimming in a while. I know how to move but I have trouble managing breathing times or I am not as fast as I used to be.
If you “learn” something forced for an exam, as soon as it’s over you’ll probably forget it all. You didn’t liked it and you’ll stop using that pattern, so no need to keep it.
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