Thoughts can be forgetten, but do they ever really leave the mind?

Question

I ask because I wonder, I wonder because I have no clue ; )

Patti, "information" was the better word I should have used.

Answer 1

Well, I think this question would lead more to a medical answer than a philosophical one :)
Actually, our thoughts are related to informations which are processed & stored in our brain in form of memories. And as you know our brain has many different parts & informations usually get stored in different areas of the cerebral cortex, or the "gray matter" of the brain as we call it which is actually the largest, outermost part of our brain. And every information while getting stored, create a certain path in the brain to the memory region- some paths are weak & some paths are strong. If it's weak then we tend to forget things a bit easily as we find it a bit difficult to trace our way back to those memory regions to retrieve information. And likewise if it's strong then we tend to remember things more strongly for a long period of time. However, weak paths can also be made stronger with repetition or practice. For example: the more we revise a book, the more strongly we tend to remember the contents . And since our brain is a very complex & yet amazing thing so the theories & notions associated with it are equally complex & contradictory as well. Some scientific research shows that we may forget things or in your words "thoughts can be forgotten.." but stored memory can still be retrieved from those regions by brain stimulation. Though, neuroscientists are still not quite sure as to whether memories truly get lost or sort of simply become inaccessible.

So my guess is that unless the brain is subjected to some kind of serious injuries, traumas or things like Alzheimer and all, it's always possible to retain those memories & so the informations actually never leave us or our brain, though we may sometimes forget things simply because we stop revisiting those regions so in course of time naturally we tend to lose our track back to those memory regions as well.
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Answer 2

I like to look at the human mind as a computer. It's like when files that were supposed to have been erased turn up later. I think once something has been "written" onto/into our brains, it's there, somewhere, forever. It may pop up in a dream in some convoluted form, or it may surprise you one day while you're driving, thinking you're thinking about nothing. Our brains seem to store only so much, but since we use only a portion of our brains, all those thoughts could be floating around anywhere up there.

Answer 3

A thought or memory may seem to have been forgotten, and indeed can be from the conscious mind, However a particular word or phrase or smell or person as a reminder will tell you that none of it ever escapes the subconscious mind.
When someone says"I forgot", they are really talking about something that they just remembered.

Answer 4

Are you talking about thoughts or memories? I don't think memories ever really leave the mind even if you think you have forgotten the incident. I believe ones thoughts come from experience and environment. If your experiences and/or environment change I believe the thoughts can be forgotten.

Answer 5

No it doesn't. Think for a second about Alzheimer's victims. they remember things from there child hood but not from five minutes ago. the information is stored until we retrieve it.

Answer 6

I desire they might, from time to time.... And yet i'm slightly out of my innovations, lol. I additionally desire the ringing in my ears would leave, yet it hasn't for the previous 5 years....hate that screaming sound.

Answer 7

No. Everything becomes part of your suppressed memory. The appropriate stimuli will bring it right back to you.

Answer 8

Learning is when they stay, dementia is when they go and intelligence is when they each have their own place, i.e. order versus chaos

Answer 9

I wonder , but then I know You don't care. I have no clue, also.