Memory

Man with Large Brain

I can’t remember stuff. It is because my brain is full.

Full up. No more room. 

I have all kinds of things rumbling around in my skull. Stuff I need and stuff I don’t need. Things I don’t need are like… when was the war of 1812 fought? I know this, but I don’t need to know this. So this information is taking up space, and I need that space for more important information, like where are the car keys.

And I know a lot of jokes. I know like the “punch line” but not the rest of the joke. Or I know the joke clear up to the “punch line”… and them I’m blank. This is a symptom of the problem. If I could delete either the punch line or the first part of the joke then I’d have more room for useful information.

Now - in this age of smart phones, laptops, desktops, pads, smart watches - we all have passwords. Lots of passwords. No one can remember them all. It is impossible. So they have software into which you enter all your passwords so then you don’t have to remember them. They are stored securely. You know this because the people telling you about their service say so. And if you can't trust people selling password protection then the world is doomed. Your passwords are stored so securely that even these people who own the password software company can’t open up the lid to the container and peer inside and tell you what’s in there.

But of course this software that has all our passwords is… wait for it… protected by… wait some more… a password!

So you have to remember that password to be able to get to your passwords.

And if you forget the password that is the key to your passwords you must then commit “hara-kiri”. This is a form of suicide or a famous baseball announcer who is, ironically enough dead himself. But I digress.

And now we have these third tier verification password like functions. These are random number generators that give you a third verification that you are you. So you have to remember these numbers long enough to enter them into your computer or phone.

So now all of those third tier verification numbers are floating around up there in my skull making my brain more and more full. You will be saying to yourself you don’t have to remember all those random numbers. You can just forget them. Just enter them into your phone or computher and then they are gone.

Is that how it works? Are you sure? Maybe not.

What if all those bits of information that you think are unimportant and can forget are still up in your brain floating around taking up space.

So now important things that I should be able to remember I can’t. Don’t ask me… “Like what?” ‘cause I don’t remember.

And as I sit here and type this I can’t remember if I’ve already published a similar article. So if I have please forgive me, otherwise: never mind.

Falling to sleep reading.