You may recall things without consciously thinking about them, and you may fail to recall things when specifically thinking about them. Conscious thinking is good at logically synthesizing information as it's needed, but some property of it forbids it from actually storing any information. Real world data just doesn't organize neatly; The subconscious is fine being a mess.
Try this experiment: Ask your subconscious to recall a specific memory you know you have. Then, stop thinking about it entirely. Within an unspecified length of time (could be minutes, hours, days), you'll spontaneously recall details about that memory you didn't know you had.
Memory is fallible. I know because I remember my memory failing me. If that meta-memory is accurate, then it is evidence that my memory is fallible. If it is inaccurate, then I remember something that didn't happen, so my memory is fallible anyway.
Memory is associative. I know this because someone told me a long time ago and then I've seen many studies which has shown that. I am sure some confirmation bias was at play. I specifically recall two types of studies. First one is that giving a hint of any specific part of memory aids in recalling of a whole memory. People have used this to construct memorization techniques, such as memory palace. Second one is that memory created during an emotional state is easier to remember when emotional state is recreated.
Additionally I have not seen any studies which disprove memory associativity claim, although I am sure there are some and I just have not looked hard enough.
You may recall things without consciously thinking about them, and you may fail to recall things when specifically thinking about them. Conscious thinking is good at logically synthesizing information as it's needed, but some property of it forbids it from actually storing any information. Real world data just doesn't organize neatly; The subconscious is fine being a mess.
Try this experiment: Ask your subconscious to recall a specific memory you know you have. Then, stop thinking about it entirely. Within an unspecified length of time (could be minutes, hours, days), you'll spontaneously recall details about that memory you didn't know you had.