Did you forget?

I recently read an article in Wired Magazine where the author talked about off-sourcing his memory to Google, et al. He wrote about a study showing younger people were less likely to be able to recall information like a friend's phone number, a relative's birthday etc. When asked, they had to pull out their PDA, look it up online, or otherwise consult an external resource to retrieve the requested information. I've noticed this myself for quite some time. I've said for a long time, it's not what you know, but what you know how to find.

I'm a trivia buff, so I'm constantly cramming my brain cells with useless information, but when it came to remembering my youngest son's birth date, I had to rely on my wife to finally provide me with a mnemonic aid (my favorite TV show at the time was "24"). I can recall my street address from 20 years ago, but I literally have to calculate my age anytime someone asks for it.

In general, I focus on what I need to do right at that moment, and leave the rest to Outlook alerts, lists, and my wife to provide reminders. My like is just too complicated to try to remember it all myself. I'm sure yours is too -- it's a factor of society today.

Every couple of weeks a co-worker will ask if I remember processing a specific request, or responding to an email from so-and-so. Usually I have to go back and look it up. They, on the other hand, can recall some little thing talked about months ago with great clarity. I'm not sure if this has something to do with their mental constructs and faculties that allow them to be part of their specialized profession versus my different specialized profession, or if it's related at all. It frustrates me sometimes that I can't remember something that they're referring to, but I think I'm starting to accept it. If only I could find an always-on, personal storage device that I could keep with me at all times that would track everything I did and provide instant on-demand recall of everything... Guess we'll have to wait a few more years for that advancement...