If someone rememberes a fact, do they forget something at the same time? is there a limrit to how many facts?

Question

YOU CAN KNOW (REMEBER)?
Can memory literally increase meaning your not faster to remember stuff but u can actually remember more? is there an effect like u forget stuff faster or don't remember things as fast?

I apreciate any answers but if your a specialist please specify.
this. Also excuse the category i wasnt sure which to oput this question in

but we only use 10% of the brain so what happens when we reach 10% ? it emptys out like files on our hard drive?
professionals please answer

Answer 1

Considering the common belief is, that we only use 10% of our brain, it should be a long way before we have to "kick-out" a memory, in order to make space for a new one...

Answer 2

I'll star this, as I have a fan who answers in Psychology and is very expert (hi, Jennifer!).

Psychology, under Social Science would have been a better category.

I'm not exactly an expert, but I've read a lot in the field, and I'm pretty sure the answer is "No."

We have a lot more room in our brains to lay down new memories without flushing old ones.

BTW, that 10% thing is a myth.

Someone said it, based on not good evidence or reasoning, and it got picked up by popular culture.

It's simply not true.

We use all of our brains.

We use different parts for different things (usually several parts at a time, in concert with each other), but overall, we use the whole thing.

But you can keep learning, and keep memorizing things, without "filling it up" in any way, or having trouble remembering either new stuff or old stuff.

I THINK we'd have to live hundreds of years, or more, before "using up" all the memory storage capacity we have.

Actually, the more you practice memorizing stuff, the better you get at it.

(There are tricks, called mneumonic devices, for helping people remember stuff.)

Here's a link to a cool site about the brain:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/brain

Edit after reading the other answers: Oh, yes! The angelSomethingSomething person was right about short-term memory.

It can hold relatively few things, and when you take in too many, the earlier items drop off.

But once you lay down the long-term, this doesn't happen.

Though if you don't think about something for a long time, you may not be able to "get at" the memory of it, and so "forget" it.

But run out of "hard drive space"?

No. (I'm PRETTY sure.)

Answer 3

Okay, I just studied this in school. No, you do not forget something. Your mind is like a computer, it is believed that everything you ever learned is in there --the problem is file retrieval. For example, you can learn a language as a child and then never use it again...then one day you have brain surgery and the surgeon activates (don't know how to say it) a certain part of the brain and you can start speaking that language again (you are awake during brain surgery).

The more connections you make with information the more likely you are to remember it long term. Your brain needs time to process the information it is receiving and does this at night. This is why sometimes you might not 'get' something in class and then after you sleep you wake up and it finally makes sense.

Answer 4

There is currently no limit known to how much the brain can store/remember. So, as of now, it's pretty much unlimited.

We use all of our brain, though perhaps only 10% at any given time. If ALL the neurons in our brain were firing simultaneously, this would not be good. Try functioning with 90% of your brain cut off - you can't do it! Remember that most of the brain is not for storing information - the brain serves many many purposes, like motor controls, balance, our senses, hormone regulation, etc etc etc.

Answer 5

Hello,

I do not buy this theory about 10% brain use or if we had serious brain injuries from gun shots to strokes, the other 90% would take over and we'd be 100% in no time... this does not happen.

What facts we remember are the ones that interest us the most. For example if I meet 5 guys at a party, all at once, I forget their names in about 20 seconds but if it is 5 sexy friendly women, their names are burned on my mind forever.

Cheers,

Michael

Answer 6

Consider what your saying, in effect what you've said is like saying, if you remember to say "ma..ma" you'll forget something else and, never get beyond the "ma...ma" stage.

Your mind increases with what you learn. You cannot stop learning. I have been going to school all my life, I am a carpenter now, but have attended three Colleges and Universities and community colleges, medical schools.

As I said, I am a carpenter, have my own wood working shop, am in my seventies and keep plugging away.

Answer 7

If we are talking about our short term memory, it is estimated that we can only hold 7 plus or minus two simple items in it (such as numbers), so if something was not commited to long term memory before new info comes in then we very well may forget it. Our long term memory system is believed to be infinate but we have to exchange information from our short term memories first.

Answer 8

Ten per cent of the brain in use at any time? How many brains did they inspect to reach this figure?

All I know, is that once I know something, I find it impossible to 'unknow' it. But I can remember the ignorance before I knew it.

Answer 9

well i think that if the brain is completley full with information, instead of simply forgetting about certain things they will have trouble learning newer things. or the older less used memories will be compacted almost but still there. like details wont be clear but the general concept is