A week or so ago, I surprised (and possibly worried) my wife by singing some French songs which I'd learned in high school. [She also studied French in high school but was in the wilds of New Jersey and so had less music and more irregular verbs.]
Anyway, the tunes quickly sparked a discussion on the relatively useless information we acquire in a lifetime and how it often has a firmer grasp on our memory than far more important items. Right now, I can tell you more about the French Communist Party, Bugs Bunny, and Ogden Nash's poetry than I can about mortgages or cooking.
There must be theories on why our memory has such a bizarre filing system. I'll look them up after some more French songs.
I recommend the book, Moonwalking with Einstein for more about memory than you knew you wanted to know
ReplyDeleteWally,
ReplyDeleteI have that book but have not finished it. It was interesting but I kept wanting to shout, "Get to the point!"
That may be my failing more than the author's.
I will finish the book.
Thanks!
Michael
I get that. Perhaps this is one of those books that doesn't have a point, just a bunch of interesting stuff laid out along the arc of a story.
ReplyDeleteWally,
ReplyDeleteI suspect that you are right. My mistake was approaching it more as a self-help book.
Michael