3 ms·

I think this has something to do with how to brain stores memories, and that storage is highly entwined with a spatial location. Somehow being able to tie that

I think this has something to do with how to brain stores memories, and that storage is highly entwined with a spatial location. Somehow being able to tie that memory to a location in space makes it more concrete for me. If I remember a fact from a book I can also usually remember the physical location of the fact inside the book. My point is that it's not a conscious process, so the book/map isn't replaced by a simple location indicator. The experience of a book isn't reducible in this way.

falcolas 7y ago
> being able to tie that memory to a location in space makes it more concrete for me This sounds a lot like the old "visual/auditory/physical learning" phenomenon to me. Were it truly the case, the old O'Reilly books would be the best possible resources for programmers, and not StackOverflow, blogs, and online programming language documentation.
- johnchristopher 7y ago
  You moved the goal post. Books can't cover everything but deal with the general. SO/blogs are typically concerned with corner cases or specific assignements/problems.
  - falcolas 7y ago
    > SO/blogs are typically concerned with corner cases or specific assignements/problems. No, blog posts and online documentation are hardly limited in such a fashion. They cover everything from corner cases to syntax introductions, to setting up the environment. Go, as a single example in a sea of examples, has their entire official getting started and other guides entirely online: https://golang.org/doc/ https://golang.org/doc/ And while SO has recently limited itself to corner cases, it has not always been that way. It has been a resource providing information on culture, machine setups, and "where's the best info on getting started online" for a very long time.
    - johnchristopher 7y ago
      >> SO/blogs are typically concerned with corner cases or specific assignements/problems. > No, blog posts and online documentation are hardly limited in such a fashion. I purposefully didn't mention online documentation because it's too easy to make the case that man pages are more often than not too obscure as starting material. Blog posts don't cover everything. Online doc. does though (that's like... the point). The way you are trying to build the argument that it's either paper books or online/e-books/blog/SO and there are mutually exclusive won't lead the conversation anywhere (note the usage of the word 'typically'). I am not getting into a cherry-picking argument contest with you. You prefer e-books and online doc and dislike paper books ? Fine by me.

falcolas 7y ago

> being able to tie that memory to a location in space makes it more concrete for me This sounds a lot like the old "visual/auditory/physical learning" phenomenon to me. Were it truly the case, the old O'Reilly books would be the best possible resources for programmers, and not StackOverflow, blogs, and online programming language documentation.

johnchristopher 7y ago
You moved the goal post. Books can't cover everything but deal with the general. SO/blogs are typically concerned with corner cases or specific assignements/problems.
- falcolas 7y ago
  > SO/blogs are typically concerned with corner cases or specific assignements/problems. No, blog posts and online documentation are hardly limited in such a fashion. They cover everything from corner cases to syntax introductions, to setting up the environment. Go, as a single example in a sea of examples, has their entire official getting started and other guides entirely online: https://golang.org/doc/ https://golang.org/doc/ And while SO has recently limited itself to corner cases, it has not always been that way. It has been a resource providing information on culture, machine setups, and "where's the best info on getting started online" for a very long time.
  - johnchristopher 7y ago
    >> SO/blogs are typically concerned with corner cases or specific assignements/problems. > No, blog posts and online documentation are hardly limited in such a fashion. I purposefully didn't mention online documentation because it's too easy to make the case that man pages are more often than not too obscure as starting material. Blog posts don't cover everything. Online doc. does though (that's like... the point). The way you are trying to build the argument that it's either paper books or online/e-books/blog/SO and there are mutually exclusive won't lead the conversation anywhere (note the usage of the word 'typically'). I am not getting into a cherry-picking argument contest with you. You prefer e-books and online doc and dislike paper books ? Fine by me.