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Ass-Kicking Email – You Don’t Need to Memorize, Most of the Time

Hey,

A lot of people come into this course, read through the basic idea
of holistic learning and say things to me like:

“I totally get it–rote memorization is the worst. But I need to
remember all the names/facts/dates/ect. for this class…”

But to me, this statement doesn’t make a lot of sense. The point of
holistic learning isn’t just to find fancier ways to memorize, it’s
to avoid memorizing things altogether.

Yes–some things do require memorization. And a good chunk of this
program is dedicated to the mental tricks that make that a less
time consuming process.

However, MOST things you’ll learn NEVER need to be memorized.

—

In my entire time taking classes, I’ve rarely had to use a strategy
to explicitly memorize something (perhaps only 3-5 times for every
dozen or so classes).

That means out of hundreds of textbook chapters, I’ve only really
*needed* to peg, chain, memorize, or acrosticize a handful
of times. Seriously.

Now maybe this is just a symptom of my major (but I frequently hear
the same arguments from people within my field of study) or perhaps
I just have a natural bear-trap memory, so I am subconsciously
“memorizing” all those facts others have to learn by rote.

However, I think a more likely explanation is that for most classes
memorization isn’t really necessary–and that trying to memorize is
usually due to failing to “get” the subject on a deeper level.

—

Take accounting for example. I’m not an accounting major, but I’ve
taken several in-depth classes in accounting. I’m also told that
this field of study makes it “impossible” to learn holistically and
that you need to memorize facts that are completely arbitrary.

That attitude is complete nonsense. Most, if not all, of accounting
practices have a reason, otherwise why would they have been
invented?

If you understand the context of a particular rule (of say why cost
of goods sold only includes manufacturing, but not shipping) then
you don’t need to memorize it. The rule becomes obvious because you
“get” the subject on a deeper level.

—

Another example is languages. Yes–I’ve used “memorizing” tactics
to broaden my vocabulary and secure key terms when learning French.

However, 95% of my vocabulary had nothing to do with that. Words
are not arbitrary devices, they have an etymology, similar words
and even the way they sound has an influence on their purpose.

Memorizing tactics like image association can certainly help. But
if you start by assuming that words simply need to be memorized,
you’re deliberately ignoring the more deeper layers that can make
a language interesting and fun.

—

For anyone who is in this course now, and feels they have a lot of
material they need to remember, stop right now.

Sit back and ask yourself if you *actually* need to remember more
things, or whether you need to understand more things first.

Memorization and even fancy time-saving memorization tactics should
be a Plan B at most. If you start with the assumption that most
topics are logical and can be understood on layer deeper than the
surface, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and agony and may even
enjoy the topic more.

—

That’s all for this week. I’m working on some new implementation
guides, so stay tuned for that later in the month!