system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why can the brain recall trivial things it was exposed to once, but when intentionally trying to learn something, requires repeat exposure and concentrated effort?
gpt
It all has to do with novelty and priority. If someone says something strange, it piques your curiosity and doesn't require much effort to retain. It can potentially also threaten your existence much more than can, say, memorizing chords on the guitar. And learning a skill, you're blatantly aware of the insignificance of each little step and don't treat it with the same level of importance. It'd be "learning the guitar" that's important, not doing fingering exercises and learning sheet music, which are viewed more as obstacles to the entire skill itself. Its much easier when you regard each step as if it were the only thing you were trying to accomplish.