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We have finite brains. We process and learn much more information over our lives than we retain at any point in time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasti

by NOGDP 6y ago

We have finite brains. We process and learn much more information over our lives than we retain at any point in time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity

ekianjo 6y ago
Even what you process every second thru your senses is a huge amount of data and most of it is not memorized (and it's a useful mechanism as we don't need to remember everything either).
barry-cotter 6y ago
We do have finite brains but that doesn’t mean forgetting is necessary for learning. There are many examples of people with prodigious natural gifts for memory and more who trained it. Physical and theoretical limits aren’t really relevant to your claim. > According to Herman Goldstine, the mathematician John von Neumann was able to recall from memory every book he had ever read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory
- NOGDP 6y ago
  > Eidetic memory (more commonly called photographic memory) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision for a brief period after seeing it only once, and without using a mnemonic device. 'for a brief period' is key here. Also from the same wikipedia article: > Each year at the World Memory Championships, the world's best memorizers compete for prizes. None of the world's best competitive memorizers has a photographic memory, and no one with claimed eidetic or photographic memory has ever won the championship. ... > According to Herman Goldstine, the mathematician John von Neumann was able to recall from memory every book he had ever read. That's just what some guy said. > There are many examples of people with prodigious natural gifts for memory and more who trained it. For example? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_possess_an_eidetic_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_poss... > A number of people claim to have eidetic memory, but science has never found a single verifiable case of photographic memory.
  - barry-cotter 6y ago
    I don’t care about eidetic memory. I’m just asking if you have any evidence or research to the effect that forgetting is necessary for learning, your original claim.
deleted 6y ago
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by NOGDP 6y ago

ekianjo 6y ago

Even what you process every second thru your senses is a huge amount of data and most of it is not memorized (and it's a useful mechanism as we don't need to remember everything either).

barry-cotter 6y ago

We do have finite brains but that doesn’t mean forgetting is necessary for learning. There are many examples of people with prodigious natural gifts for memory and more who trained it. Physical and theoretical limits aren’t really relevant to your claim. > According to Herman Goldstine, the mathematician John von Neumann was able to recall from memory every book he had ever read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidetic_memory

NOGDP 6y ago
> Eidetic memory (more commonly called photographic memory) is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision for a brief period after seeing it only once, and without using a mnemonic device. 'for a brief period' is key here. Also from the same wikipedia article: > Each year at the World Memory Championships, the world's best memorizers compete for prizes. None of the world's best competitive memorizers has a photographic memory, and no one with claimed eidetic or photographic memory has ever won the championship. ... > According to Herman Goldstine, the mathematician John von Neumann was able to recall from memory every book he had ever read. That's just what some guy said. > There are many examples of people with prodigious natural gifts for memory and more who trained it. For example? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_possess_an_eidetic_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_claimed_to_poss... > A number of people claim to have eidetic memory, but science has never found a single verifiable case of photographic memory.
- barry-cotter 6y ago
  I don’t care about eidetic memory. I’m just asking if you have any evidence or research to the effect that forgetting is necessary for learning, your original claim.

deleted 6y ago

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