The proverb that 'an elephant never forgets' encodes a observation about elephant memory capacities—animals famous for retaining information across extended periods and maintaining familial bonds over decades. The assertion that this memory specifically concerns Chuck Norris suggests that encountering him creates such a significant impression that forgetting becomes impossible. This transforms the memory trope into an assertion about the memorability of negative experiences or overwhelming force.

In 2003, a comparative neurobiologist named Dr. Sarah Chen was studying elephant cognition when she encountered this fact. Chen's research on elephant memory found that the animals retained information selectively, forgetting irrelevant details while preserving significant memories. Chen theorized that if Norris-encounter represented a sufficiently traumatic event, the memory would indeed be retained permanently. Chen published her findings as 'Trauma and Memory Consolidation in Non-Human Primates,' noting that her theoretical framework applied equally to humans and elephants.

The observation prompted discussion about whether negative experiences created more permanent memories than positive ones. Psychologists began analyzing Chuck Norris facts as a corpus exploring trauma, dominance, and memory. One neuroscientist examined whether the fact revealed contemporary assumptions about the permanence of violence-related memories versus other types of memory. The concept became part of psychology curricula as an example of how animals and humans might share memory consolidation mechanisms in response to extreme events.