Photo/Illutration A signboard for Lower House election posters is set up in Osaka on Oct. 13. (Takashi Yoshikawa)

Humans are animals that forget.

German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) is known for his famous experiment where he made up a meaningless phrase and memorized it to study the process of forgetting.

He forgot about 40 percent of the phrase in 20 minutes and two-thirds of the phrase in one day. And one month later, all he remembered was one-fifth.

He deduced that while oblivion progressed rapidly, the speed it occurred at gradually declined with time. He also concluded that whatever one still remembered after a certain period of time tended to remain in memory for a long time.

This classic, widely known experiment yielded what came to be known as Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve.

The official campaign for the Oct. 27 Lower House election kicked off on Oct. 15.

This election will determine whether to give the mandate to the administration of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, while also passing judgment on the three-year administration of former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

So, I wonder, with some self-reproach, how much we remember of what has transpired politically since the last general election.

I certainly remember the slush fund scandal and issues concerning the former Unification Church and how frequently I found them simply unacceptable.

As for things that are more easily forgotten, I remember sensing a real threat to democracy when a former minister of internal affairs and communications denied the legitimacy of administrative documents.

And I was shocked by the pathetically flimsy human rights awareness of the sitting justice minister who joked about the death penalty.

The rapid growth of defense expenditures was decided in the absence of any meaningful discussion and a former prime minister preached about the "readiness to fight (in war)."

As if the nuclear disaster in Fukushima was entirely forgotten, pitches were made for active utilization of nuclear power generation.

Didn't our politicians resent serious discussion, behaving as if they were fully entitled to dismiss dissenting opinions out of hand once they'd won the election?

"I do not remember" are the words I remember hearing over and over. What were the issues in question that elicited this go-to response?

I want to fight the "forgetting curve" and try hard to jog my memory. Perhaps I should do that before going to the polls.

—The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 16

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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