As we get older, we are all guilty of taking advantage of certain things; one of the things that we all take for granted is the human brain. While it may sound odd, the human brain is the one thing that functions without our influence, and often we don’t pay it too much attention.
What is more remarkable about the human brain is the sheer power it holds and the fact that it just cannot be replicated. Why can it not be replicated? Well, that is sheerly down to its memory capability.
If you think of the brain as a computer hard drive, it really becomes something quite remarkable to behold. When we are born, the hard drive is very small, possibly 1-2 MB of data can be held, but as time passes, this is where things get fascinating.
The brain is thought to be able to hold around 2.5 petabytes of information, to put that into perspective, that’s around about 3 million hours of television shows, or just over 342 years worth of information.
Taking all of this into account, it is no wonder that the brain is such a sensitive and incredible thing. When it comes to seeing how remarkable it truly is, the chances are that we will never really know. What we do know is that while there have been ridiculous statements of us only using 10% of our brains, and other notions that we are able to communicate with upper realms, this has all been shown to be complete nonsense.
What we do know is that the brain is so remarkable that we will never be able to recreate it, and we never should. While there are companies that claim that AI will eventually match up to the human brain, we also know that you cannot program intuition and emotions. As both of these play a huge role in what makes the brain so incredible, we can safely say that AI will never reach that point.
While we are looking at the remarkable nature of the brain, we have today fashioned a post that is going to point out a few remarkable facts about memory that you may, or may not know.
Hopefully, this post will highlight some things that remind you that your mind is a fragile and beautiful thing and really deserves your attention. While it may not happen, losing your mind is a possibility, so you may want to appreciate your best tool while you are young.
Most Short-Term Memories Are Easily Forgotten
Have you ever spent a whole night studying only to find that as you head out of the door, you have pretty much-forgotten everything you sat down to learn?
If this sounds like you, then don’t worry, this is pretty much the same for everybody. Most experts that have conducted memory studies have found that when you ask a person to memorize seven items, they are generally only remembered for around 30 seconds.
If you want to remember more, you can use methods like chunking in which you group together things and this way the mind tends to grasp more information. If you are more of a fan of technology, then one of the best things you can do is turn to your favourite flashcard app to help you retain information.
Over the years students have relied on flashcards as they help create a visual pathway in the brain and compared to simply reading something in a book, this can be one of the best things you can do to store more information.
Amnesia Is Not What You Think It Is
Ok, so when it comes to lies that Hollywood tells, it seems that when it comes to amnesia, they really like to stretch the truth when it comes to what it really is.
Amnesia is actually incredibly complicated and generally presents in one of two ways. The first form of amnesia is called retrograde amnesia. Retrograde amnesia involves the loss of ability to recollect past memories. The second type of amnesia is known as anterograde amnesia; this form of amnesia stops you from creating new memories.
As you have possibly worked out, most moves you have seen involve retrograde amnesia, and usually, you will see the star of the film not even able to remember their own name, which in itself is nonsense.
If you want to look for an accurate depiction of amnesia in a film, then it has been said that the film that really hit the nail on the head was Finding Nemo, and no, that is not a joke.
Smell Can Trigger Memories Better Than Anything Else
Have you ever been somewhere and you have been hit by a smell that has suddenly thrown your brain back to something that you thought you had long forgotten? Well, this is because the smell is one of the most important things in the triggering of memories.
The science behind this gets very complicated, and it’s all to do with the olfactory nerve being very close to the hippocampus and amygdala. What is even more remarkable is that if areas of your brain that connect to memory become damaged, you may even have an impaired sense of smell.
So next time you smell something familiar, make sure you take some time to really appreciate what you can whiff, who knows what memory may be triggered by a familiar smell.
Your Brain Will Learn More From Visual Stimulus Than It Will From A Book
One thing that may shock you is the brain's ability to learn from textbooks. It seems that while the human race has been learning lessons for thousands of years in written form, the brain has evolved and nowadays, watching information is far more valuable than reading it.
So, if you find you are struggling to take in some information, then maybe you should consider watching something rather than reading about it.
If you struggle to believe this one, try a little experiment. If you are a fan of a film and book series, you will be perfect for this experiment.
Let’s say you love Harry Potter, we think that if somebody asked you to quote a whole scene of the film, you could do it with ease, but the question you should ask yourself is this; can you quote an entire page of a book?
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