When it comes to remembering things, we cannot rely on our brains. The majority of things that are occurring right now or we are experiencing right now will not be saved later on by the brain. Researchers believe that the brain forgets on purpose, making space for new information. And this is important for the active functioning of the brain.
Oliver Hardt of McGill University said, "Without forgetting we would have no memory at all." He believes that our brain acts as a filter, forgetting all those memories which are deemed unimportant. The reason for this filtering function of the brain is that it does not know which memory is to keep.
Without forgetting we would have no memory at all.
Hermann Ebbinghaus published his hypothesis known as "The Forgetting Curve". According to this, within just one hour of newly learned information, our brain will forget about 50% of that information. But the good news is that we can alter the curve and increase the retention time of memories. By repeatedly feeding the same information to our brain, it takes less and less time to retrieve that memory.
Our brains are busier than ever before in consuming a lot of information. The abundance of information that we consume by reading books, watching videos, listening to podcasts, having conversations, will all decay if not preserved.
That is why taking notes is necessary. By repeatedly exposing our brain, we can strengthen the memory of that piece of information. Revisiting the notes, again and again, will activate the information in our long term memory, and it becomes easier to retrieve that information more quickly.
By repeatedly exposing our brain, we can strengthen the memory of that piece of information.
In short, the following are the benefits of taking notes:
- Helps to retain the information.
- Access to the information in the future.
- Able to revisit and revise, edit, and expand information.
Write things down (especially your most interesting thoughts and ideas). Do it well and, over time, you will be amazed at the ways it will amplify your creativity, efficiency, and productivity.
