Recently, I’ve seen a series of jokes on the internet about men not being able to find things at home, specifically in the refrigerator that are seemingly in plain sight. I have also experienced my own husband saying were out of something, say ketchup, that I know we have. I am sure we have it because I bought it and put it in there.

We follow the familiar pattern of him saying it isn’t there and me insisting it is, until I get up and reach in front of him grab it and hand it to him. So there is your evidence to backup the joke. Or is it?

I recently experienced the reverse phenomenon when looking for something in our shed. Tim recently rearranged it and I was at a loss as to the location of some medium sized object. After some frustrating minutes searching, I called him at work and he told me where to look. Boom, it appeared out of thin air.

The difference I think isn’t about seeing, but recalling information. When a person is staring at a place they are unfamiliar with that has fifty or more objects, it overwhelms the brain. You just see a jumble of nonsense. Add other stimulus like music or children and finding the location of something you don’t already know is nearly impossible. That’s why I only shop at familiar stores and get irritated when they rearrange things. Our brains are simply better at recalling than finding.