The forgetting of forgetfulness
Anamnesis (ἀνάμνησις) is the process of remembering knowledge the soul already possesses.
Anamnesis is the idea that learning is really recollection. The soul has already seen the eternal Forms before birth, but forgets them when it enters the body. When we learn, we are not gaining new knowledge; we are remembering what the soul already knew, awakened through questioning and reflection.
“All learning is recollection.”
“The soul, having been born many times and having seen all things here and in the underworld, has learned everything; so there is nothing which it has not learned. Therefore, it is no wonder that it can recollect what it knew before.” — Plato, Meno