We all forget things, and sometimes it would be better if we did not. Normal forgetting occurs more frequently as we age, but more serious, progressive, retrograde forgetting, which can have severe, ...

One of the most actively debated questions about human and non-human culture is this: under what circumstances might we expect culture, in particular the ability to learn from one another, to be ...

There are clear, practical benefits to forgetting, especially with outdated information—where you parked your car yesterday, an old password you no longer use, the PIN code you replaced, the details ...

The human capacity to forget is not merely a failure of memory but a fundamental adaptive mechanism. Memory suppression and intentional forgetting involve the active inhibition of unwanted or ...

Alexander Easton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

Dr. Small is the director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Columbia University and the author of the book “Forgetting: The Benefits of Not Remembering.” See more of our coverage in your ...

Social learning is typically thought to be most beneficial when the environments in which individuals live change quite slowly – they can safely learn tried and tested information from one another and ...