When working on a primarily mental task (example: web browsing, studying, programming), I sometimes find myself coming up with an idea, forgetting the idea itself, but remembering I have come up with it. Backtracking through the mental steps may help recall it, but often I’ll not be able to recall it at all, ending in frustration. Is there a technical term for this I can google / does anyone have an idea what this is?
I would also be interested in research regarding this topic. I “suffer” from a similar phenomenon. The most annoying part ist that I am unable to judge if it was a good or bad idea I forgot. Also, this phenomenon occurs more often if I am tired.
The most annoying part ist that I am unable to judge if it was a good or bad idea I forgot.
Anecdote: Discussing this with a particularly non-rational acquaintance, they remarked that I’m likely subconsciously discarding horrible ideas, and preventing myself from coming up with them again, and therefore the better for it.
I’ve had the same thing occur to me many times, especially once I went into college. However, I did an experiment that might help shed some light on the issue for you.
I attempted to brute force my way through the problem. I kept pens and note pads on hand, specifically sticky notes. When I had any idea I felt worth keeping, I’d jot it down on the spot. No context (so I wouldn’t write down what I was doing or where I was) just the idea itself. I soon collected a wall of sticky notes (it became quite infamous in the dorms) full of these ideas. I still have them all, in a notebook full of card stock, organized by type.
The problem I find, going back over the many different ideas, is that, on the whole, the ideas have lost any inspiration they once had. Looking over them, I see the ideas as either a.) common knowledge (meaning the idea was probably new at the time but since then I’ve just grown used to through other routes of knowledge) or b.) trite and even childish.
So, if it helps, it would seem that your friend may be onto something as, for the most part, my wall of ideas serve either as reminders of things I already know or things that don’t matter.
I read somewhere that furiously writing down everything you were thinking about is a good way to dredge up forgotten thoughts, and it sometimes works for me.
When working on a primarily mental task (example: web browsing, studying, programming), I sometimes find myself coming up with an idea, forgetting the idea itself, but remembering I have come up with it. Backtracking through the mental steps may help recall it, but often I’ll not be able to recall it at all, ending in frustration. Is there a technical term for this I can google / does anyone have an idea what this is?
I would also be interested in research regarding this topic. I “suffer” from a similar phenomenon. The most annoying part ist that I am unable to judge if it was a good or bad idea I forgot. Also, this phenomenon occurs more often if I am tired.
Anecdote: Discussing this with a particularly non-rational acquaintance, they remarked that I’m likely subconsciously discarding horrible ideas, and preventing myself from coming up with them again, and therefore the better for it.
I’ve had the same thing occur to me many times, especially once I went into college. However, I did an experiment that might help shed some light on the issue for you.
I attempted to brute force my way through the problem. I kept pens and note pads on hand, specifically sticky notes. When I had any idea I felt worth keeping, I’d jot it down on the spot. No context (so I wouldn’t write down what I was doing or where I was) just the idea itself. I soon collected a wall of sticky notes (it became quite infamous in the dorms) full of these ideas. I still have them all, in a notebook full of card stock, organized by type.
The problem I find, going back over the many different ideas, is that, on the whole, the ideas have lost any inspiration they once had. Looking over them, I see the ideas as either a.) common knowledge (meaning the idea was probably new at the time but since then I’ve just grown used to through other routes of knowledge) or b.) trite and even childish.
So, if it helps, it would seem that your friend may be onto something as, for the most part, my wall of ideas serve either as reminders of things I already know or things that don’t matter.
I read somewhere that furiously writing down everything you were thinking about is a good way to dredge up forgotten thoughts, and it sometimes works for me.