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Reply	Natalie Vincent says: I work in computer programming, and I often say, when I can't remember someone's name "I'll put it on a background thread". I also find that if I don't consciously think about it and do or talk about something else it works even better.  (no votes) Tags: human body.
	posted on 2008-11-27 21:23:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Anonymous says: The reason you remember something later on when not trying,is because when you ask about something or somebody from a long time ago the answer is buried deep in the subconscious hence when you try with your conscious mind you cant get to it,however when you you or your conscious mind stop trying and forget about it your subconcious keeps working away in the backgroud and will search out the answer you have asked of it,the drawback is however the subconscious goes at its own pace hence why the answer always comes to your your conscious mind minutes,hours,sometimes even days later depending how long forgotten the memory is.Michael ,Hinckley.  (no votes) Tags: human body.
	posted on 2008-11-27 22:30:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Anonymous says: This, I believe, belongs to the realms of Neuro linguistic programming (NLP) which combines the comments already given by the first two comments i.e. a problem is defined by the conscience and submitted to the sub-conscience which in turn finds the answers and presents it at some ( mins, hours, days, or even weeks) later stage to the conscience mind.  (no votes) Tags: human body.
	posted on 2008-11-27 22:44:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Paul says: I’m very familiar with the “put it on a background thread” method. A couple of years ago, I found another way to bring information to the surface. I spent a Friday night and all Saturday trying to remember the name of that actress – you know, she was in Moll Flanders and played Elizabeth Corday in ER. When the name hadn’t popped out by Sunday afternoon, I gave in. Opened google, typed in “ER cast” went towards the “enter” key – but before I got there … Alex Kingston! I’ve managed to repeat the feat since then. So, perhaps you can force your subconscious into stepping out of the shadows. Or, to put it another way, when you’ve put it in the background is there then some direct , proximal cause that makes the memory surface at just that point in time?  (no votes) Tags: human body.
	posted on 2008-11-27 23:29:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Anonymous says: New Scientist has had several articles recently saying that the brain seems to run some sort of memory processing program when it is idle or asleep. The process is appears to go through the day's events stored in short term memory, figure out which ones are important, and then commit them to long term memory. Perhaps that process is the one which found your friend's name. It processed the event of trying to find the person's name, and as part of its processing, retrieved related information about the event, including the person's name and other information. Then, somehow that information leaked towards your conscious process. The fact that the memory process seems to run during idle times and when you are asleep would explain why you remembered the name late at night.  (no votes) Tags: human body.
	posted on 2008-11-28 13:04:00 | Report abuse

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