[CS-FSLUG] Memory (was Hosea)

[Ed Hurst]

Josiah Ritchie wrote:
>>I am told that part of the reason is that we have a non-standard memory 
>>framework. I can most certainly remember content, including massive 
>>minor details, but I'm fortunate to remember who wrote what. If you ask 
>>me a content-related question, I am confident I can respond.
> 
> Exactly! I've often said that it's more about understanding the content
> then being able to repeat it from rote memory. I can rarely tell you
> exactly what you just said, but I can tell you what I thought you meant
> to convey. Consequently, I still haven't managed to fully memorize the
> multiplication tables (despite significant effort on the part of many),
> but I did find physics and pre-calculus (high school) to make a lot of
> sense.

Advanced math made plenty of sense for me, too. In the short term I 
always did well, but in the long term I have only a vague framework for 
what it was all about. It's the primary reason I never pushed to stay in 
  Math, but have always done fine in science.

> Do you have any kind of reference materials to read up on this
> "non-standard memory"? Who differentiated you from "standard memory"?
> Nowadays, if I complained about it, I'd expect to get labeled "learning
> disabled" but I think that's a cop-out. I expect if I could gain a
> better understanding, I could wield this gift more aptly (hopefully to
> God's glory and not my own).

Oddly, the best references are in the field of Special Education. Y have 
to wade through a lot of trash to get the real goods. The theoretical 
work is rather deep and hard to follow without a good foundation in 
Psychology. From time to time I've seen excellent discussions, as 
something dropped on the reader in passing, in books about something 
else. I have yet to find any really good online references.

It is technically a "learning disability," but is actually a recall 
disability. Learning = input, recall = output. We know we have it, but 
cannot reliably bring it forth by the standard path. However, most who 
are affected by this have a compensatory advantage in the area of 
creativity. That's where the alternate framework comes from. We can 
adopt and adapt an existing framework that initially had no bearing on 
the material at hand.

Much of my best writing comes from people asking just the right 
question. In the process of producing a response, I will will be 
suprised by associations that come with it, which most folks would miss. 
In this, I too learn a great deal. God certainly has His way of doing 
things, and I am proof of His subtle sense of humor.

-- 
Ed Hurst
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