Why does the brain mostly remember tragic, bad or embarassing memories instead of the happy ones

Question

Why does the brain mostly remember tragic, bad or embarassing memories instead of the happy ones

In: 4262

Answer 1

You remember stuff that sticks out. So if you had mostly a good life, you could remember all those bad moments vividly because they were out of the norm. If you had a constantly bad life, you could remember all the good, albeit few, moments.

Example about stuff sticking out: if you were driving to work and saw a car flip and crash, that would stick I’m your mond because it’s so out of the ordinary.

People also remember (or think they remember) important events, like 9/11 or the announcement that Osama had been killed.