Forgetting something

Should we be overly concerned that we tend to forget a lot of things? Joe Biden was recently criticised for his failing memory, for often not being able to remember events and dates. But so what if you cannot remember a thing or two, asks University of California psychologist and neuroscientist, Charan Ranganath, author of The Mysteries and Quirks of Human Memory. They are, he says, on the contrary, signs that your brain is doing just what it was designed to do: prioritise and store important information and let non-essential facts and details slip away, a function that was essential to survival for our evolutionary ancestors.

I, for one, can no longer remember birthdays, anniversaries and phone numbers without digital aids. That's because we are no longer required to physically dial a number or keep mental notes as we have easy access to all of these on a hand phone that has become an extension of our memory.

When a 25-year-old Jungkook, lead singer of the K-pop boy band BTS, was asked in an interview who his favourite Hollywood actor was, he thought for a moment, smiled and said between his dimples, 'I know who it is, but I don't remember the name.' And which is your favourite film, persisted the interviewer. The lad thought for longer, and then said, 'I know the film, but I cannot remember what it was called,' and bursts into peals of laughter along with his team mates, enchanting both the interviewer and audience! I felt a kind of kinship - if a young boy celebrity had no problems confessing his forgetfulness, why not a senior like Biden or me?