Evolutionarily, our minds aren’t naturally hardwired to recollect advanced math equations or codes (although it is fairly cool that we are able to). “We’re programmed to recollect issues which have actual that means, versus only a random string of numbers,” Milstein says.
So for those who incessantly overlook your passwords, that is really extra innate (and customary) than you assume. “Don’t really feel dangerous about these issues,” Milstein says. Especially when you’ve got one million different duties occurring, random info like that simply will get trashed to make room for extra vital issues.
However, “If the factor that we’re studying has that means, if it has some emotional component to it (it is humorous, it is scary, and many others.), it is extra prone to stick,” Milstein notes. This is why you would possibly keep in mind each second of the final scary film you watched but slip up in your greatest pal’s telephone quantity.
So if you wish to keep in mind one thing easy (say, a string of numbers like a date or telephone quantity), then you must mentally tie it to one thing foolish or scary, Milstein suggests. “That’s the way in which you make these reminiscences stick,” he notes. Dramatizing the numbers or utilizing them in a foolish sentence would possibly assist far more than you assume.