A recent study at the University of Sussex suggests that repetition is one of the keys to memory. Specifically, the study found that participants who “retold” the narrative of a video retained the memory of it much longer than those who simply watched the video.

This suggests that human impulse towards narrative may be useful for more than just entertainment. It’s possible that telling stories is the method we use to create memory, which might also explain why our memories themselves are so unreliable.