NFG
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Subject: Memory: Who needs it?
A recent post on Techdirt discussed how machines were making our brains less functional. Specifically, the younger generation ermembers less 'cause the machines remember things for them. Here's my comment on the post in question:
Freeing your brain from the burden of memory frees it up to do things like search and crosslink. I accomplish more and faster with Google than I ever could with my memory. I don't even bookmark pages I find, 'cause I know I can find them again later.
I used to remember phone numbers, now the only ones I remember are my work and my mobile, and only 'cause people ask me for them all the time. I mean, who even uses a phone? I'm more likely to remember an IP.
I don't need to remember things, I just need to remember processes. I know how to find the information I need, and I know how to assemble that into a larger whole with the other things I find. Short term memory has become medium-term: It's there just long enough to finish something, and if I need to come back to it a year later, I'm learning it all over again. But fast!
I don't remember PHP commands. I remember where I found them last time. I don't remember phone numbers, I remember how to work my phone, and I intuit how to work someone else's if the need arises. I don't remember passwords, my browser does that for me and I remember how to reset it if the browser breaks.
It's all about the processes.
Freeing your brain from the burden of memory frees it up to do things like search and crosslink. I accomplish more and faster with Google than I ever could with my memory. I don't even bookmark pages I find, 'cause I know I can find them again later.
I used to remember phone numbers, now the only ones I remember are my work and my mobile, and only 'cause people ask me for them all the time. I mean, who even uses a phone? I'm more likely to remember an IP.
I don't need to remember things, I just need to remember processes. I know how to find the information I need, and I know how to assemble that into a larger whole with the other things I find. Short term memory has become medium-term: It's there just long enough to finish something, and if I need to come back to it a year later, I'm learning it all over again. But fast!
I don't remember PHP commands. I remember where I found them last time. I don't remember phone numbers, I remember how to work my phone, and I intuit how to work someone else's if the need arises. I don't remember passwords, my browser does that for me and I remember how to reset it if the browser breaks.
It's all about the processes.
![[Image: http://nfggames.com/system/arcade/special.php/b-d/bp-5/y-kof97/z-10/x-What?/.png]](http://nfggames.com/system/arcade/special.php/b-d/bp-5/y-kof97/z-10/x-What?/.png "http://nfggames.com/system/arcade/special.php/b-d/bp-5/y-kof97/z-10/x-What?/.png")
This post was edited on 2009-10-06, 11:13 by 
And i had a really great and fun time on my trip overseas.