Our lives are structured by our memories of events. Event X happened just before the big Paris vacation. I was doing Y in the first summer after I learned to drive. Z happened the weekend after I landed my first job. We remember events by positioning them in time relative to other events.
Joshua FoerWhen we first hear [a] word, we start putting these associational hooks into it that make it easier to fish it back out at some later date.
Joshua FoerKissing could have begun as a way of sniffing out who's who. From a whiff to a kiss was just a short trip across the face.
Joshua FoerTo the extent that experience is the sum of our memories and wisdom the sum of experience, having a better memory would mean knowing not only more about the world, but also more about myself.
Joshua Foer