Philosophy

Human Memory

The human mind is a fickle creature. It is prone to dozens of cognitive biases, and the way it is strengthened, is paradoxical:

To learn, you must forget

The above is a mantra all my students are familiar with, and derives from an understanding of Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve.

Additionally, the human-mind is highly fragile:

  • vulnerable to brain damage (dementia)
  • psychological impairments

And biologically expensive:

  • contributes a meagre 2% of the human mass
  • is responsible for 20% of the body's energy consumption.

Whilst this sword is double-edged; it enables our creativity, capacity for complex thought, reasoning, etc.; the design of this organ leads to largely improper use by its hosts.

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Quotes

Here are quotes that I have collected, but have nowhere else to place purposefully at the moment:

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” — Cicero

“Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly - until you learn to do it well.” - Steve Brown.

"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." - Chopin

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