We talk about memory as a record of the past, but here’s a surprising twist: we aren’t supposed to remember everything. In fact, we’re designed to forget. Over the course of twenty-five years, Charan Ranganath has studied the seemingly selective and unreliable nature of human memory to find that our brains haven’t evolved to keep a comprehensive record of events, but to extract the information needed to guide our futures. Using fascinating case studies and testimonies, ‘Why We Remember’ unveils the principles behind what and why we forget and shines new light on the silent, pervasive influence of memory on how we learn, heal and make decisions.