So while we all want an amazing memory, we can’t put all the onus and credit on remembering. An optimally functioning memory system involves a finely orchestrated balancing act between data storage and data disposal: remembering and forgetting. When performing optimally, memory doesn’t remember everything. It retains what is meaningful and useful, and it discards what isn’t. It keeps the signal and purges the noise. Our ability to forget is likely to be just as vital as is our ability to remember.
