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Why being clueless doesn’t mean having a bad memory
Psychology
Poor retention does not have to be associated with a person who, in general, is clueless or pays little attention
Who is an orderly, attentive person who has no tendency to distraction, you can despair with those who are the antithesis. See how someone forgets things and goes ‘improvising’ due to lack of organization can be enviable by some, and cause of discomfort in others.
But, although attention and organization are normally associated with productivity and, often, with intelligence, in reality it does not have to be that way. The most clueless people are often the smartest. “Confusion is associated with people with greater intelligence in the sense that it increases the growth of neurons in the hippocampus”, explains Laia Giménez, specialist in Psychology at the Laia Giménez Consultation. He argues that, being more
Clueless, the brain forgets specific details about a past event but remembers the big picture, allowing it to better generalize past experiences and even make better decisions. “However, not being clueless is not indicative of low intelligence. There are people who are not at all clueless and very intelligent. », He adds.
Why are we clueless?
About the reasons that lead us to be more or less clueless, the psychologist explains that, in general, the least clueless are the most controlling; they do not allow absentmindedness because they will experience it as a failure and a failure. Another factor that comes into play is ‘the default neural network’. Andrés Córdoba, a psychologist at Blua de Sanitas, explains: «The brain never stops working, and when this network is active, we are processing a large amount of information, in addition to predicting, programming or planning. Therefore, we could consider less clueless people who focus their attention more on the environment, and more clueless those who spend more time in this neural network by default.
Another curious aspect is that, by being more clueless, it does not mean that you have a worse memory. Laia Giménez comments that there are very clueless people who have a great memory. «Disregard can be segmented according to the importance that the brain determines. That means that memory can also be segmented, ”says the professional.
‘Selective distraction’
Likewise, there can be a situation in which we are clueless in one area of our life, but not in another. Andrés Córdoba comments that this depends on the information that is filtered in each area. “In one area they may have to pay more attention and gather more information, (as at work) and in another area filter more and retain less information,” he says. “The brain biases the data, segments them, so differentiating by areas is not a problem,” adds Laia Giménez. Blua’s psychologist considers it important to point out, furthermore, that although studies show a correlation between being more clueless and higher intelligence, we also have to take into account the demands of the environment. “For example, there are areas in which this can lead to some conflict, as in the relational,” he says.