According to neuroscientist Lisa Genova, author of the brilliant new book Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting , the answer is almost certainly no. In fact, forgetting where you put your keys isn’t a glitch in your brain’s operating system. It’s a feature. We tend to think of memory like a camera. You take a picture, store it in a folder (your brain), and pull it out when needed. When we can’t find the file, we assume the computer is failing.
Moments like these make us fear the worst. Is this early Alzheimer’s? Is my memory broken? According to neuroscientist Lisa Genova, author of the
Forgetting that you drove a car to the mall? That is the difference. We tend to think of memory like a camera
That moment you can’t remember the name of the actor in that movie? That’s likely “blocking”—a temporary tip-of-the-tongue state. Genova explains that this happens when competing memories are shouting for attention. Your brain knows the answer; it just can’t find the right neural pathway at that millisecond. Moments like these make us fear the worst
But Genova shatters this metaphor. Your brain is not a hard drive. It is a designed by evolution to do one thing above all else: help you survive.
Do you ever walk into a room, stop dead in the middle of the doorway, and think: Why did I come in here?
And if you really want to remember where the scissors are? Put them in the same place every single time. Don’t trust your memory; trust your habit. It’s not just a science book; it’s a relief. You can find the PDF online or grab a physical copy—because you’ll want to dog-ear the pages on sleep, attention, and why forgetting your colleague’s name isn’t a tragedy.