Unforgettable

I listened in amazement as the tanned, muscular climber in the Yosemite Valley area of California proceeded to describe his entire climb up the sheer granite face of El Capitan.

He managed to relate every inch of the six-day climb he’d accomplished a year before. I couldn’t believe what an amazing memory he had. How could I ever hope to achieve this feat of recall? Later, I learned that I too could relate every inch of my scariest climbs. That’s because the emotional fear factor made them unforgettable.

Emotion has a very strong effect on memory. Scientists have learned that emotional memories