Scientists estimate that the average person has over 70,000 different thoughts in a single day. That’s a whole lot of stuff for our brains to juggle, so it’s no wonder that people tend to forget a few things every once in a while. They shouldn’t worry too much about that, however, since forgetting the occasional piece of information is very human. There’s even a holiday dedicated to it called I Forgot Day. On this holiday, people are encouraged not to worry too much about their failing memories and are even encouraged to turn off their brains for the day and just relax. This holiday falls on July 2nd every year and is the perfect day to give your noggin a much-needed break.

Facts About The Human Memory

Since I Forgot Day is a holiday that addresses the defects in people’s memories, let’s take a few moments and talk about just how amazing the human brain is and how much it actually does. The human mind is responsible for processing so much information, it’s a miracle that we all don’t forget more often than we already do. To see what we mean, follow along with the bullet points below.

• Your short-term memory only holds about 7 pieces of information at a time.
• The human brain holds approximately 2.5 petabytes of storage. That’s 138 times more than the largest hard drive ever made as of 2021—18 terabytes.
• Most eyewitness accounts are inaccurate. In the U.S., approximately 75% of wrongful convictions were due to faulty eyewitness testimony.
• By the time a person is 80 years old, 20% of the nerve connections in their brain’s hippocampus have been lost.
• Over the course of a lifetime, scientists estimate that the human brain will hold about 1 quadrillion pieces of information. That’s a lot to remember!
• It’s estimated that the average person is inundated with about 30+ gigabytes of information every single day. And it’s getting worse every year.

Observing I Forgot Day

Although some people like to use this holiday to shut off their brains and not worry about remembering anything for the day, the actual purpose of this holiday is for people to make amends for the things that they’ve forgotten about during the day. If they forgot someone’s birthday, they can write an apology note or give them a belated birthday present.

Another way to observe this holiday is by setting up systems that will help you do a better job of remembering things. You can create your own special calendar or spend the day putting events on your phone’s calendar. Whatever it takes to help yourself remember all of those special events that you’re supposed to remember but tend to forget throughout the year.