system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do you "black out" when you've had too much to drink?
gpt
People have 2 different types of basic memory-- Short Term and Long Term.  Short term memories are processed and stored in the brain for only a few minutes.  However, short term memories that are deemed by your brain to be "significant" are later converted into your long-term memory storage.  

In excess, alcohol somehow blocks the brain's ability to convert short term memories into long term ones.  Therefore you can still operate on a short term memory level-- you can still have conversations, interactions, and function on short term memory-- but since due to alcohol these short term memories cannot be successfully converted into long term memories, the next day you may have no recollection of the previous night.