Remember not to forget a password

An oft-mentioned modern-day lament is that with the advent of phone books, fast dialling, search engines and the like, individual capacities to remember mundane things have diminished rapidly. Far from remembering a dozen phone numbers, addresses and other scraps of quotidian existence, the tendency is to consult a trusty gizmo. Outsourcing memory to an external hard disk is a perfectly commonplace solution these days, after all. But there is one equally modern phenomenon that will keep certainly the human brain from shutting down certain sections due to obsolescence or disuse: the proliferation of passwords and pin numbers. Practically every electronic helpmate needs a secret entry code and security experts advise complicated combinations and frequent changes to ward off hackers. That naturally defeats the purpose of giving the brain’s memory cells a permanent sabbatical.

Of course, there are applications that come up periodically offering to remember all passwords; however, they need alphanumeric access keys as well. The danger is that the brain’s already underworked memory function can then be so lulled into inaction by such apps that even that single password could be forgotten. Result: a total lockout from one’s own life. So, do remember — to remember.