On remembering things

[matgb]

Ten years ago, I knew the phone number of most of my close friends and family, backwards. Now, if it's not programmed in my phone, it might as well not exist.

5 Years ago, I could, at a pinch, remember the birthdays of close friends and family. Now, if I don't get an online prompt, it might as well not happen.

I still remember lots of stuff, but now it's weird stuff, not mundane everyday stuff.

Is this good or bad?

Comments

[doccy]

...did you just read this article on the BBC (or the same story somewhere else), or is this just a weird coincidence?

[matgb]

Coincidence, althoough I've been reading Carr's blog and heard him on the radio doing publicity stuff a few times recently.

It was prompted by a comment I made in a locked post about someone's birthday.

[doccy]

Oh, I see. In that case - I have few problems with phone numbers, because my mobile is shite (cheap candybar pay-as-you-go, over 5 years old now), and I could never remember any birthdays except immediate-close family anyway, the one exception being my brother (who was born on the 14th or 15th of February... Whichever one isn't Valentine's day, that's him. Wait! Valentine's day is the 14th, right?).

My view is memory aids are a good thing, although I'm biased due to my atrocious memory ;)

[matgb]

I think Carr's got a point, but I don't think it's something we need worry about too much. OVerall, giving normal, non-academic types access to good sources of strong information has to be a net good, and if it changes the way some people think, so be it, at least they're thinking.

[matgb]

Aside, the author isn;t exactly a fan of the way that story's reported:
Mighty stupid media

[requiem2adream]

I don't know if it's a good or bad thing but I think it's a normal thing because I'm exactly the same with phone numbers: I used to have loads memorised and now I can barely remember my own. I was never any good at recalling birthdays though so I can't comment on that :)

[karohemd]

Same here, my ability to remember things has certainly deterioated with age.

[matgb]

Yeah, but you're distinctly old, requiem2adream distinctly isn't ;-)

[karohemd]

:P

[softfruit]

It doesn't help much that phone numbers are also longer now*, and that more and more of the people I know have two or three of the damn things.

I'm OKish with birthdays, just about... not as good as I'd like to be, but most of the ones I want to remember I have a vague notion of, like "early April, about the 10th".

Partly being better at that in the past came from having a written diary and copying them across from year to year I think.



* in that I used to need to learn a number like 123-456 and now it will go more 07912-123-456

[matgb]

I never had a problem learning STD codes, lived on the boundary of three areas as a kid, and had family all over the place.

My first phone had a really crappy addressbook that I could look people up in, but it wouldn't tell me who was ringing/texting, so I learnt a lot of numbers then as well.

I've never been able to get on with keeping an organised diary though.

[softfruit]

STD codes had a logic and pattern though! 07nnn is all random.

I carefully learned to keep diaries well, even though it wasn't a natural skill. Then the internets happened...

[matgb]

True, true. I do wonder why they didn't assign whole blocks of 07xxx numbers per phone company though, it would be a lot easier for thing like "unlimited calls to Orange numbers", which is wot I got with my contract.

[83_tauri]

(That reminds me ... I need to send my Dad a birthday card...)

I think there are two ways of looking at this. One is that it's sad that we're so forgetful. The other is, why waste precious neurons on things when you don't need to?

I've moved to the second, although I'll admit that it's mainly because it gives me an excuse for being crap...

[pmoodie]

It's caused by advancing years, or stress. Or both! Just wait till you hit 40...

[birguslatro]

That's rote learning, and there's better forms of learning to fill your brains with. Consider the new stuff you've learned in the last decade. My guess would be there weren't many lists among it, but instead many new ways to get stuff done. It'd be good to be able to remember your own name and such, but given the choice, I'd go for knowing how to do stuff.

[andrewducker]

We've gone from using the same tiny pieces of information over and over again, to the point where they're ingrained in our memories, to encountering new information all the time, which can add to our understanding (and delight and entertain us), but doesn't get used enough on an individual basis enough to be remembered instantly.

[sobelle]

Seriously? Just wait 'til you're 60. =/

I've never had a particularly good memory for numbers (or any other minutiae for that matter) =)

But (I've been told throughout my life) I have a very good memory for a wide ranging amount of interconnected social/historical subject matter. (and also where keys, coats and shoes are) =)

I tend to think of my memory as something not unlike an outline and
as I get older the outline becomes more and more subject lines with fewer and fewer details.

I figure that's why I have the interweb. =)

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