Forgetting is one of the most important things in the brain.

Forgetting is one of the most important things in the brain.

Forgetting is as important as learning.

Forgetting things is necessary for people. If people are not forgetting things, they will have a very large memory. And large memory storage makes the brain slow. The reason brains forget is that they can respond to things that require a fast reaction. This is the reason why people have three memory levels.

How often some neural connection is needed determines the level of memory. When the brain does not use some neural connections, it removes some of them. That transfers memory backward. If the neural connection is not used or needed, the brain removes that connection, releasing memory cells for some other purpose.

In the human brain, there are 100 billion to 300 billion neurons. Depending on how we calculate them. If we calculate only individual neurons, there are 100 billion neurons. But if we calculate virtual neurons, which means the neuron combinations that axons connect, the number of neurons can be 300 billion. All memories form when axons connect neurons.

"Neuroscientists suggest that “forgetting” might be a form of learning that benefits flexible behavior in dynamic environments, and their experimental tests demonstrate that memories are not truly lost but are stored in engrams that can be reactivated. Their findings, which have implications for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, show that memories can be retrieved through both natural and artificial cues." (ScitechDaily.com/“Forgetting” Might Not Be a Bad Thing – Scientists Propose That It Could Be a Functional Feature of the Brain)

The purpose of memory is to ensure survival. Memory is not meant for learning things like mathematical formulas. It's made to remember dangerous things. This is why our memory stores negative things more strongly than positive ones. And this is the reason why negative things remain longer in memory than positive things.

When brains require some memories, they must send queries to neurons to see if they have the memories that a person needs stored in their structure. Every skill we have is stored in memory. Lots of memories mean that the brain must send more queries than the brain with fewer memories.

Why is forgetting a good ability for learning machines as well?

Researchers use brains and their functions for modeling machine learning. Machine learning means that the computer stores solutions that it makes by following certain parameters. The problem with learning machines is that they operate in complicated environments. They must collect lots of data.

And when those systems require a certain solution, they must check the entire database structure for all records one by one to find a solution. That matches certain situations. To make databases simpler and faster. The machine must remove data that it doesn't need. Without that ability, databases will grow too complicated and too big to give fast responses to situations that machines will face.

https://scitechdaily.com/forgetting-might-not-be-a-bad-thing-scientists-propose-that-it-could-be-a-functional-feature-of-the-brain/ 

https://technologyandfuture4.wordpress.com/2023/08/22/forgetting-is-one-of-the-most-important-things-in-the-brain/