Lest We Forget

There are many things I can do, and there are many things I would like to be able to do.  For example I know how to program, I know how to draw, I know how to make websites, and I know how to build computers.  I'd like to be able to play a musical instrument, I'd like to be able to speak another language fluently, I'd like to be able to use 3D graphics packages like 3DS or Maya.  What I find interesting about what we can and can't do, is that it does not seem to be something set in stone.  Once you learn something, it doesn't mean you will be able to do it forever.  While some things are "like riding a bike" - something you never forget - there are many other things that we can master at a point in our lives, only to find years later that we've seemingly forgot it all.

Memory is a bit like the space on a smart phone, and the phone itself is a bit like your brain.  There are some "system" apps and "root" apps that once installed you can't get rid of [at least not without considerable effort] whereas the rest are all the apps that you install because you want to use them.  They can be apps you rarely use, or they can be apps you use every single day for hours at a time.  In a way those are like the things we learn how to do; they hang around as long as we need them or until we need space for a bigger app so we sacrifice them to make room.  There lies the intriguing question for neuroscientists - is there a limit to human memory.  There certainly is evidence to suggest the brain does "grade" knowledge based on how important it seems to be and we do appear to forget the less important bits as we continue to expand on what we already know.

There are a tonne of academic examples of knowledge we once master but seemingly discard when no longer relevant.  I mean academic in the sense that it was an academic setting in which we learned them, for me personally a few examples would be quadratic equations, simultaneous equations, vector maths, and boolean logic - all of which I had no need for after I passed the relevant examinations for which I had to study these topics.  I once knew how to do all of these with my eyes closed, now I would struggle to do even the most basic exercises in these. 

Why do we spend so much time learning things that we don't need to know?  Outside academia there are examples where the things we learn we do so out of enjoyment, games and TV shows are rich in back story, with some having entire Universes of canon for you to familiarise yourself with.  Game Of Thrones is a prime example, there are dozens of story lines all unfolding simultaneously and as you watch through the series there is a wealth of information presented to you, to the extent that if you are not so perceptive much can be missed on first watch, adding value to those who actually rewatch the show.  It is remarkable though that we can actually watch shows like this and manage to follow everything.  Such examples seem to refute the idea that memory is limited, and while some cognitive psychologists like to rely on the figure 7, that a human being is generally only able to remember 7 things before they begin to forget them, as demonstrated by the number chain game, the Game Of Thrones Series has much more than 7 main characters and story lines.

The Number Chain Game if you are interested is played with a group of people where one person says a single number, the next person repeats it and adds another number to the end, and the next person repeats that and adds a number of their own, the chain continues until someone can't recall the whole number chain.  Person A says "1", Person B says "1, 2", Person C says "1, 2, 7", and so on, the chain growing until someone can't recall the sequence.  Most average groups will break between 7 and 11 figures.

My question of the day is what did you once master, but can't do anymore?