The quote from Jane Yolen's "Armageddon Summer" captures the irony of human nature, illustrating how the act of trying to forget something often makes it more compelling. This phenomenon occurs because our minds tend to focus on what we are actively trying to suppress, highlighting the difficulty of simply letting go of thoughts and memories. Instead of fading away, these ideas often linger and capture our attention even more intensely when we attempt to dismiss them.

This struggle with forgetfulness reflects a universal experience, showing how curiosity about certain thoughts can draw us back in, rather than allowing us to move on. The tension between desire to forget and the brain's fixation on interesting ideas speaks to the complexity of our cognitive processes. It emphasizes the challenge of overcoming lingering thoughts that keep resurfacing, despite our intentions to let them go.