Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
Regarding the second question, the memory system for events, facts, names, etc. has a storage and a retrieval component. Retrieval, which involves focused brain work, is a harder task than storage, which happens almost automatically in many cases. As for remembering lost info when "properly stimulated," I suppose the extreme case is things you once saw or heard fleetingly looking familiar when seen again, so I guess it's pretty much true.
One depressing thing as I get older is thinking about the increasing number of events I don't remember. Like, last week the family was reminiscing about my sister's graduation at a boarding school hundreds of miles away. I drove out there with a friend, the only time he was ever there. You'd think an unusual weekend like that would stick out in my memory, but I barely remember any of it.