• Question: How many memories can our mind store?

    Asked by kaboom2 to Tim on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tim Fosker

      Tim Fosker answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      Hi @kaboom2

      Thanks for a great question! We don’t really know as no one has run out of space yet. Unlike Homer Simpson when he said “every time I learn something new I forget something else”, most of us keep storing new memories.

      There is a limit on what we store in our short-term memory though. Short-term memory is the memory we use when we have to remember something for a brief time (seconds) and we will usually rehearse to ourselves during that time (like a telephone number). If you store it long enough it becomes part of your long-term memory and it can last your whole life or you may eventually forget.

      The limit on short-term memory is between 5 and 9 bits of information. It is really lucky that local telephone numbers are only 6 numbers otherwise most of us would have real difficulty remembering them. 🙂

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