The next time you forget something, don’t curse yourself. In a new report, researchers of the university of Toronto found that the goal of memory is not to transmit the most accurate information over time, but rather, to optimize intelligent decision-making by holding onto what’s important and letting go of what’s not. This constant swapping of old memories for new ones benefits the brain, allowing us to adapt to new situations by ridding the memory of outdated and potentially misleading information. If you’re forgetting a lot more than normal that might be cause for concern, but if you forget the occasional detail, that’s probably a sign that your memory system is perfectly healthy.
Why being forgetful from time to time can be a good thing
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