ABSTRACT
M emory is something we complain about. Why? Why are we quite happy to claim “I have a terrible memory!”
but not to assert that “I am amazingly stupid”? Of course, we do forget; we do sometimes forget appointments and fail to recognize people we have met in the past, and rather more frequently we forget their names. We do not, however, often forget important events; if the bridegroom failed to turn up for his wedding he would not be believed if he claimed to have forgotten. Consequently, failing to recognize an old acquaintance suggests that the person was perhaps not of great importance to us. The obvious excuse is to blame one’s terrible memory.
