The Beginning of Life as We Know It

The involuntary deletion of memories

Before you fall asleep tonight, try and recall everything you did during the day. Think about the brand of your breakfast cereal, which route you took to walk your dog, and the number of homework assignments you didn't do, Now, try to recall the same information about yesterday, a week ago, or even a month ago. Chances are you'll find it harder and harder the farther back in time you go.

Most people accept this for what it is, but I, being myself, recently began to ponder our species' excessive forgetfulness. I'm aware that yes, forgetting insignificant details is necessary to prevent memory overload, but what exactly happens to those memories? Are they gone forever, or, given the right circumstances, might they still be recalled? Furthermore, why do we even bother making moments memorable if we know that, in a few days' time, they'll most likely be lost? I suppose we don't really have a choice; after all, our short term-memory is still in effect.

If our minds truly do delete memories purely to avoid overload, then doesn't this suggest that the human brain has a maximum memory capacity, similar to that of a flash drive or computer? And if so, what is that capacity? How many gigabytes of information can I possibly store inside my head? I once read that humans can hold several hundred thousand gigabytes of information at one time. However, the method of storage is a rather odd one - instead of remembering frame-by-frame recaps, most people remember a small snippet of an event and the emotions he or she felt at the time.

As an example, when I remember one of my favorite memories, my first kiss, I'm often startled at how little I remember of the actual thing itself - I only vaguely remember the time and place, plus a few bits of conversation here and there. However, I'll never forget the way my heart raced as I leaned in towards her, or the way her lips were so soft that I just -

Anyways, you get the idea. I've always found it odd that much of my life is being forgotten as I live it. However, it does keep me sane to know that, if I won't remember spilling milk all over my shirt in a week, the people that were around me when it happened probably won't, either.