There are certain instances where we tend to forget something. For instance, when we go to the market to buy some groceries for our homes, we tend to forget what we were supposed to buy. Similarly, we might have been told at our workplace to complete a certain task, but we might not remember it and because of that we might face certain consequences. But, sometimes I wonder, why do we tend to forget certain things? Why aren’t we able to remember certain things?
It has been noted that when we remember things, we go through three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. During the process of storage and retrieval, if there is something wrong or faulty, then it might lead to forgetting. There was a scientist named Ebbinghaus, who proposed a curve that talked about how we tend to forget things over time if there isn’t constant practice of retrieval (Murre J.M.J., & Dros J., 2015). There are a lot of molecular and cellular mechanisms which also help us explain forgetting. The two most important theories that explain forgetting include- neurogenesis-based forgetting and interference-based forgetting. Both of these theories talk about how the brain’s chronic signaling systems tend to function in such a way that enables certain molecules to be released which tend to cause forgetting. Another theory is that of the intrinsic theory of forgetting. This theory talks about how the brain tends to release forgetting cells that release dopamine onto engram cells which then create a pathway in our body due to which our memory tends to get shortened (Davis R.L., & Zhong Y., 2018).
There is certain evidence that suggests that forgetting could also be due to some social reasons as well. The evolutionary perspective suggests that humans tend to forget things so that they can remove less crucial things from their minds and make sure that they remember more important things that they have to focus on. This gives them the energy to focus on more pressing things and issues surrounding them (Barrett J.A., & Zollmann K. J.S., 2009). Other evidence also suggests that we tend to forget in order to suppress the traumatic experiences that we have experienced throughout our lives and make sure that we are able to cope with the trauma and maintain our well-being at all times. Memories of past failures and disappointments are forgotten so that we tend to start our lives fresh with a new perspective and with increased resilience in the face of challenges. There is a theory named “Betrayal trauma theory” which talks about how forgetting and misremembering could be adaptive if it is trying to endanger our lives. For instance, if we have had a childhood trauma where we were abused by our caregiver, then our brain would make sure that we forget this information (De prince A.P., et al., 2012).
So, to conclude there are a lot of reasons because of which we tend to forget stuff from our minds and the reasons for the same could be biological as well as social.
References
Barrett J.A., & Zollmann K.J.S., (2009). The role of forgetting in the evolution and learning of language.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220080293_The_role_of_forgetting_in_the_evolution_and_learning_of_language
Davis R.L., & Zhong Y., (2017). The biology of forgetting- A Perspective. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5657245/
De Prince A.P., et al., (2012). Motivated forgetting and misremembering: perspectives from betrayal trauma theory. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22303768/#:~:text=In%20such%20cases%2C%20forgetting%20or,by%20a%20trusted%2C%20needed%20other.
Murre J.M.J., & Dros J., (2015). Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve.
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