What the research suggests is that the richer the store of information you have in your own mind—in your own memory, the more deeply you'll process new information, and as a result, the more thoughtful you'll be, the more analytical you'll be, and the better able you will be to evaluate the worth of some new piece of information. So memory—the store of information in your own head—is very, very tightly linked to the depth and rigor of your thinking.