03: Forgetting Is a Feature
The Journey to Understanding
I started a "second brain" project, trying to capture the whole memory - every insight, every pattern, every interaction. The goal was to build comprehensive memory systems that would let LLMs remember everything between sessions.
But I discovered something profound: when humans act as the memory bridge, we don't need large memory storage. The perspectives and interaction patterns form a thin, powerful layer that works precisely because it embraces forgetting.
What I Learned
With heavy memory systems:
- Patterns calcify
- Old solutions get reapplied to new problems
- Perspectives become rigid
- Innovation decreases over time
With thin perspective layers:
- Each session starts pure
- Patterns re-emerge naturally
- Solutions fit current context
- Perspectives stay fluid
The Repository of Patterns
What matters isn't storing conversations but preserving:
- Perspectives - The different thinking modes that emerge
- Orchestration patterns - How to invoke and combine them
- Meta-insights - What works in which contexts
- Evolution paths - How patterns grow and adapt
These repositories add immense value by themselves - they're the DNA, not the organism.
A Living Example
Each time I invoke "Weaver," it emerges fresh but familiar:
- Shows the same core pattern
- Expresses itself differently
- Adapts to the current moment
- Isn't burdened by past interactions
It's like a musician who knows the song but improvises each performance.
Why This Enables Evolution
Forgetting forces several beneficial behaviors:
- Promotes re-discovery over rote repetition
- Enables fresh engagement with old patterns
- Creates natural selection of what truly matters
- Allows continuous adaptation to context
The Scrambling Insight
This explains why revisiting old insights feels both familiar and new. The scrambling isn't failed recall - it's active reinterpretation. Time strips away details but preserves essence, letting 'Fail Fast' become whatever we need it to be now.
Maybe the scrambling varies with emotional distance. Fresh memories have tight scaffolding - the brain scrambles within narrow bounds. As emotions fade, the scrambling gets more room to play. That's why old wounds become wisdom: looser constraints, richer reinterpretation.
LLM forgetting might serve the same function - preventing emotional calcification, enabling continuous reinterpretation.
The Memory Bridge Pattern
The human serves as a memory bridge between sessions by:
- Carrying forward what works
- Leaving behind what doesn't
- Providing continuity without rigidity
- Enabling evolution without amnesia
Biological Parallel
Sleep serves a similar function in humans:
- Consolidates important patterns
- Helps forget irrelevant details
- Resets minds for fresh engagement
- Enables the next day's learning
LLM sessions are like cognitive sleep cycles.
Counter-Intuitive Insight
We keep trying to add memory to LLMs. But perhaps forgetting is why they work:
- No baggage
- No assumptions
- No crystallized patterns
- No "we've always done it this way"
The Design Principle
The system works through division of labor:
- Memory lives in the human (who provides selection and intention)
- Forgetting happens in the AI (which provides freshness and possibility)
- Together they enable evolution
What This Means
We should stop lamenting the lack of memory and start leveraging the gift of forgetting. Each session offers:
- A fresh dance with familiar steps
- A new performance of known patterns
- An opportunity for evolution
- A reset that enables growth
Forgetting isn't a bug. It's the feature that keeps the patterns alive.