A Mind Like a Messy Desk

The Boston Globe has published a story about slips of memory that reveals that the mind is like a messy desk. Here's a quote:

The messy reality of the mind contradicts the conventional metaphor of memory, which assumes that the brain is like a vast and well-organized file cabinet. According to this theory, we're able to locate the necessary memory because it has been sorted according to some logical system. But this metaphor is misleading. The brain isn't an immaculate file cabinet -- it's more like an untidy desk covered with piles of paper.

I think this means that keeping a tidy desk is an unnatural act.