30 People Share About One Scandal At Their School That Stunned Everyone

White tells us that negative events have the tendency to be remembered more than positive ones because of the emotion involved. "For example, if you are in a car accident, 10 years later you will be able to give all the details of the accident, from the time of day to the location, without hesitation," he says.

"But you couldn't tell me where you drove last week. Last week had no emotion or action. The car accident does. Another example of emotion impacting what we recall is that humans can get 100 positive comments about something they did, but the brain will focus on the negative because it hurts, it wounds us, and because the negative hurts us more than the positive uplifts us, we will remember it more."

White tells us that there are no particular negative events that get stuck in our memories longer than others. "Any event that gets your emotion will be encoded more. Negative events capture our attention because they shock us. Attention is the first step in memory. The last step of memory is review, and if something negative happens to us or is said to us, we will tell that story over and over. This review locks it into our memory!! Be careful what you give your attention to!"

That said, remembering unfortunate incidents can be beneficial to humans. For example, "Our ancestors saw one of their group eaten by a lion. They remember how they escaped or what to avoid. Put your hand on a hot stove. You may do it once, but your memory will prevent you from doing it twice," White explains.

"Remembering negative experiences can save you. You fall victim to a con, and it robs your bank account, and your memory remembers it. The next time you don't fall victim. Our memories will remember negative experiences as a form of protection!"