On: Dementia Rate Drops Sharply, as Forecast

[mikeash]

Yes, but we know this from studying it, not because it's "intuitive".

[Amadou → mikeash]

Intuitive is just a synonym for "similar to previous experiences." Anyone who has regularly exercised or played a sport or even a musical instrument and then stopped knows about use it or lose it we even have a term for it, "being a little rusty."

[mikeash → Amadou]

And anyone who's exerted themselves physically for more than a few minutes at a time knows that the more you do it, the more tired and weak you become (short term). If "intuition" supports both, it says nothing.

[Amadou → mikeash]

I feel you are being disingenuous. We all have enough long-term memory to discern patterns beyond the short term and classify them as such.

[mikeash → Amadou]

Feel what you like, I don't care.

There are plenty of examples, both in nature and in the human body, of "use it or lose it" and "use it up and it's gone".