system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What is happening memory-wise when someone says "if you hadn't asked me I would have been able to tell you."
gpt
A little older than ELI5 version: It's a state of knowing psychological phenomenon where there is a self-reflective knowledge of the memory's existence, but the pathway through which that memory needs to be accessed and articulated is unavailable for some reason.  The context where the fact in question is brought up is different than original context and brain pathway when the memory was forged.  You can't recall it because you aren't accessing the right memory pathways, and you can't consciously change these locked-in pathways in that moment.  You need an extra stimulus to provide information or you need to wait for a time where your mind wanders and let's your creative meandering merge with your memory to find it.