The decline of memorization

[Spareribs]

Back in the ole 1950s, people did not have pocket calculators so you had to do math problems in your head and memorize the multiplication table. These days, it's not as necessary.

I recently heard a report on the news that because of smart phones, people don't have to memorize phone numbers anymore and that many people actually don't know their own phone numbers unless they have to look up.

Also with smart phones and computers, you don't have to memorize the spelling of long words because of the auto correct function. Humans don't have to memorize as much compared to a few decades ago when the brain had to work harder.

Maybe it's great. We can all relax and not have to think as much. But maybe it's not so great because our brains won't be as sharp with cognition and it's becoming more dull. Either way, it's not necessary to remember your phone number anymore. Unless if ya lose your phone in the house and need to call it to find it.

 

[wuwhere]

In grammar and high school, I was able to pass and graduate with mostly memorization. I believe this was because the way the teachers taught, there was more emphasis on memorization. But in the university, I had to not only memorize but also understand a lot, problem solving in math, physics, programming languages, and other computer related subjects. At work, more new technical words and acronyms to memorize but also understand how they work together. New technologies, wired communication to wireless and now optical.

 

[Spareribs]

I watched a documentary called Somm and it's about these wine experts working in the top restaurants. To be among the best, you have to have an incredible memory remembering thousands of wines and what they taste like. It's almost like being a human computer and in is field, your memory must be top notch.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Sooner or later, technology won't remember us. (Creepy sci-fi stuff there. lol)
 
What if someone asks for your phone number, though, or you need to enter it online? haha
 
You do have a point about not having to memorize certain things as much anymore, but on the other hand, for the most part, modern education is centered around memorizing random facts long enough to pass them on a test...after which time most said facts are typically forgotten. I wish pre-college education was more focused on preparing people for successful careers.

 

[wuwhere]

Different jobs require different skill sets. Look at athletes, depending on their sport the training is different. Its the same with non-athlete jobs. You have to tailor your mind to the work that you do.

 

[Spareribs]

Good point. If you're a school teacher, you still have to remember your student 's names.

For me, the GPS has made me lazy to remember driving directions since I move around a lot to different locations.

Here is a video topic about memory loss for some people.

[VIDEO]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyXoLg3FIA[/VIDEO]

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Maybe it's just my social milieu but I don't see any decline in it despite how many of us use tablets. Then again I'm surrounded by people who have to remember the ******* Civil Code front to back,plus landmark cases, or people who should be able to feel their way around my torso. Then I have to remember the differences between the Marxist and Elite theories of hte origin of the State, and each of the Social Contracts, and tablets only allow each of us to bring a copy of academic journals everywhere without wasting paper.

 

[JimJ]

I'm taking anatomy and physiology next semester. 
 
Believe me, memorization isn't dead... 

 

[Spareribs]

Yes but what about 300 years into the future when the planet is run by cyborgs?

 

[JimJ]

I, for one, welcome our Apple cyborg overlords.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Multiplication tables were a bad thing anyway because they didn't actually teach the relationship between the numbers, just that "X times Y magically makes Z."
 
I'm 30, and when I was in elementary school we didn't do multiplication tables. We used little beads and would construct rectangles X rows by Y columns and count them to get Z and that was how we learned multiplication. After we got the hang of that, we were given a "cheat sheet" to help us remember, but we never once memorized it. It was just reference. We did something similar for division by subtracting X beads from a set of Y beads Z times to get the answer.
 
That said, you have to look at the flipside of it. Because we're not expected to know the fine details, we ARE expected to quickly move through the broad strokes. In the 1950s, how many high school students were doing calculus? Hell I was taking it in 10th grade and I'm pretty sure accelerated programs start earlier now.
 
Technology has stopped us from needing to know how to do all these things, ergo it's now assumed that everyone can quickly do any task that requires them. Since we all have phones in our hands, it's expected that we can all take care of math/etc at a moment's notice. How often does this conversation happen nowadays:
 
"Hey do you know how to ________?"
 
"Why you asking me? You got a phone, don't you?"
 
I do agree that everyone should still be given the building blocks so they know how to get from point A to point B, I mean even though I'm using Google for most of my math now I still know how to, I'm just trying to do it quickly. Even so, the end result isn't laziness, it's speed. We're expected to blaze through things in minutes that would take hours in days past, and that doesn't mean we get to just sit around enjoying those extra hours, we got more crap we have to do in that time.