Aryan says a goldfish's memory lasts only 3 seconds, which is why it never gets bored swimming…

Why

Aryan's claim is one of the most widely repeated animal facts around — repeated so often it feels settled, even though it was never actually based on real research. Scientists have directly tested goldfish memory: at Plymouth University, goldfish learned to push a lever to get food, and when the lever was rigged to only work during one specific hour each day, the fish learned to nudge it right at that time — something impossible for a creature that forgets everything after 3 seconds. Researchers at the Technion Institute found goldfish could remember a specific sound linked to feeding for up to five months afterward. Test it: think about why the '3-second memory' claim persists — a goldfish's brain lacks the exact structure (the hippocampus) mammals use for memory, which led people to wrongly assume no memory existed at all, rather than checking whether goldfish might remember some other way. His sister is right: goldfish can hold memories for weeks or months, not seconds — a claim being popular is not the same as a claim being tested.