In this talk, James (1899/1962) explains how our faculty of memory is defined by our ability to make connections and associations with new material and thoughts that we already possess, and it is ideal if these thoughts can be organized into scientific or philosophic systems. Unfortunately, there is no way to exercise the entire memory, but just like with the level of attentiveness, people should not be judged by one elementary faculty, but instead by their whole thinking being together. Lastly, we are changed when we learn something, and even if we cannot remember it by heart later on, it has still changed our way of thinking and we are able to relearn it much more quickly.
James’ (1899/1962) discussions of memory and its importance brought to mind a recurring statement that many young students claim: there is no need to memorize things anymore, because almost everything you would need to know can be found quickly and easily on the Internet. James seems to touch on this kind of concern, although he of course had no experiences with the Internet, in two passages. He mentions that because professionals have worked with material before, when they are working on a case or issue, “they differ from other men only through the fact they know how to get at the materials for decision in five minutes or half an hour: whereas the layman is unable to get at the materials at all, not knowing in what books or indexes to look or not understanding the technical terms” (James, 1899/1962, p. 70). This seems to be a good argument for explaining that even though the internet provides plentiful information, people will only know how to find this information if they have worked with it and learned it some time before. Furthermore, James (1899/1962) further shows the benefit of learning information when he claims that even though someone “may know how to work out results and recollect where in the books to find them, the time lost in the searching process handicaps the thinker, and gives to the more ready type of individual the economical advantage” (p. 60). This shows that even when you do know where to find it, it will take precious time that could have been saved by having learned and remembered the information previously. In our busy and stressful age, saving time is a great benefit, and we should all continue to learn and memorize important bits of information, because that saves us the time it takes to constantly take out our iPhones and perform a Google search on everything. While technology is a wonderful thing that can help us in many ways, hopefully it will not eliminate the need to memorize and learn things by heart. Furthermore, simply typing your search terms into a search engine is not the most helpful way, either, since it presents as its results many erroneous and unfounded webpages and blog posts. Students must be taught how best to use the Internet so that they can find credible sources. How much truth do you think there is in these students’ statements that the Internet invalidates our need to memorize and learn facts? How can teachers show students that it is still important to actually learn things, and how can they train students to use search engines and other features of the Internet to their fullest extent?
I think the nature of what we need to remember is changing, don't you? It's not that we don't need memory; it's that our memories are being put to use in different ways. This is a fascinating topic.
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