You should be memorizing while learning.
You probably think you're better than that, but you're not. You've been misled.
You probably knew a student who spent their waking hours taking notes, making flashcards, and sucking up to the teacher. They probably got higher marks than you.
I'm not telling you to mindlessly commit lines from a textbook to memory. Nor am I telling you to suck up to a teacher (or anyone else for that matter). Just consider that someone who (also) memorized did better than you.
Memorization is a tool, and as with all tools, it has its uses.
At a basic level you'll have to take some facts for granted.
If you're like me this will bother you to no end, but these base facts are where you'll start your understanding from. You'll see some justification for these base facts, and then you'll start using them to produce more complex facts.
At some point you'll delve into these base facts and explain them in terms of even more fundamental facts. These two directions (more fundamental and more complex) will eventually lead you to the limits of our (human) knowledge.
I hate talking abstractly, so I'll given an example.
When you first started learning programming, you learnt about if statements:
if some_condition():
do_A()
else:
do_B()Your were given a model of how control flow works.
You combined if statements to create more complex control flow.
You ran into edge cases (i.e. when some_condition() raises an exception), which had you refine your model.
You weren't taught how control flow worked under the hood. No mention of the python interpreter, bytecode, the stack, instructions, or otherwise.
You simply memorized and retained a model of how control flow works, which allowed you to write more complex programs.
Memorizing:
- Frees up working memory, allowing you to work on more complex problems.
- Develops automaticity (the ability to work without consciously thinking), increasing your speed and precision when solving problems.
- Helps identify patterns and relationships between different problems.
- Ensures you have the necessary knowledge to begin further study.
Seriously, just try it. The next time you want to learn something - to understand something, try including memorization. It will make your life easier.
Well how do I memorize then?
Well, going back to the student from before, take notes and make flashcards. Do timed practice problems. Make your own cheatsheets. Draw diagrams. I don't know. I'm tired. I'll elaborate more later.
Inpsired by the folks at Math Academy.