Supermemory.

THIS was an article presented on by one of my classmates that day, entitled Exceptional Memory Explained: How Some People Remember What They Had for Lunch 20 Years Ago. It talks about how some people can remember every single detail of their life, and how they memory doesn't seem to erode with time. We always wished to remember every piece of information esp nearing the exams, and I never thought that such abilities could have negative effects as well. I guess the most irritating part of this ability would be that negative memories would be remembered with the same intensity and detail, which makes it really hard to get over bad experiences/events.

I read somewhere else in my evolutionary psychology textbook about why memories are not infallible. Why we are absent-minded (cuz it helps direct attention to more important things), why we don't remember things as accurately (cuz we sometimes remember things which put us in a good light for our own self-esteem) etc. And what left an impression on me was why memories are persistent. It argues that such negative memories serve the purpose of reminding us not to make the same mistakes again. Which is true when we think of how sometimes we try so hard to not remember the bad stuff but it just comes to your mind time and again.

It's kind of saddening then, if we do have such an ability to remember every single detail. I suddenly am full of admiration for our brain. So amazing.

All the best for exams!