I asked the girls I was sitting with to think of a word that came to their head
fyi: their was convo in the room so people didn't really hear each other's words & I asked sporadically.
the words: pineapple, scrumptious, potato, pineapple
I think the 4th girl must've indirectly heard the first girl say that even though she didn't know what I asked. It's funny what our brains choose to pick up and hang on to; what info resonates with us and what goes in one ear and out the other. I don't think there's a method to the madness, but maybe there is. Maybe our minds are constantly listening, like the Alexa thing, but only choose to act on it when certain stuff seems relevant enough.
I think I actually retain 40% or less of the info that comes my way every minute. Probably less. I was on a walk the other day and I realized my eyes were open but I wasn't really looking at anything. I didn't see the trees I walked past because trees are such a conventional thing in my day. But if I were to see a pink dog on a bike, then I would notice it and probably try to take a picture.
Selective memory and retention is actually something I learned about in one of my advertising classes this year, but it was in terms of billboards we see and the restaurants we choose to go to because of it. I'm not sure if this selective brain retention is good for us or bad. Maybe we go through our days ignoring the good stuff because we are waiting for something horrible to happen so we can complain and say "I knew it!" that's what happened when my ex-boyfriend told me I was pretty as often as he did. It just kinda blends and becomes less significant. I tell my friends I love them all the time, but "love" is such a stronger concept than every day sometimes, but I guess for that one in matters on the context.
Either way. Regardless. What does it mean when we can't get something out of our heads, as opposed to not being able to take it in. What does it mean when there's something that comes back to our minds months after it happened, or conversations days after they were had, or the faces of people we don't remember seeing last?
The brain is funny. The hearts funnier though. That's a whole separate blog post for this class.