In the latter half of the 20th century, cognitive psychologists began to explore how the brain actively suppresses certain memories. This research was crucial in understanding various aspects of memory, such as how we forget, why certain memories are more persistent, and the role of attention in memory recall.

Memory inhibition plays a crucial role in our daily lives, helping us navigate a world full of information. By suppressing irrelevant or distracting memories, we can focus on the task at hand. For example, when learning a new skill or adapting to a new environment, memory inhibition allows us to prioritize new, relevant information over outdated or irrelevant knowledge.

In software development, memory inhibition can be both a positive and a negative. There are often lots of distractions and new information is constantly being thrown our way.

On one hand, memory inhibition allows us to focus on current projects without being constantly distracted by past experiences or unrelated information. But on the other hand, over-inhibition of memory can lead us to do things like reinvent something we may have already created previously. Valuable knowledge from past experiences is not utilized effectively or lost entirely because we completely forgot.