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Maybe it's simply a force of habit at this point, but I can only read/study/memorize technical stuff from PDF/paginated source--I memorize the overall "picture"
by maga 6y ago
Maybe it's simply a force of habit at this point, but I can only read/study/memorize technical stuff from PDF/paginated source--I memorize the overall "picture" of the page and it's location along with the bits I actually need, and it's really tough to do with non-paginated sources.
- Nullabillity 6y agoSounds like scrolling is actually a positive then, by forcing you to focus on understanding the content rather than relying on rote memorization.
- dredmorbius 6y agoSpatial memory is not rote memorisation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci
- Nullabillity 6y agoNot sure what you're trying to say, that article pretty much only talks about its applicability to (inherently rote) memorization contests. It doesn't say _anything_ about meaningfully integrating the information as knowledge. Which also seems to align with the article's description of how it works: you're not trying to figure out the underlying structure of what's going on, you're making up a new structure as you go based on the surface-level patterns.
- dredmorbius 6y agoFalse. The method of loci (loci being Latin for "places") is a strategy of memory enhancement which uses visualizations of familiar spatial environments in order to enhance the recall of information. Yates's work, cited, expands on this. The method is useful for both specific itemised momorisation (rote) and more general (holistic, integrative, syncretic, synoptic, networked, dynamic) recall and understanding.
- imposterr 6y agoYes! I totally get this. I think it's akin to the "mind palace" method popularized in media.
- maga 6y agoThat's an apt observation, actually. I used to practice mind palace when I had to memorize lists, and I do feel more comfortable when information is "physically" placed somewhere like a page, I guess it's all connected.
- hikarudo 6y agoI wonder if source code could be read and understood more effectively if it were paginated.
- jhgb 6y agoI'm happy that someone came Forth with that idea here.
- Jiocus 6y agoSource code often does facilitate it's own method of paginating, into different files. One could argue that is the whole point of the practice. Pagination or not, both pagination and files provide some degree of spatial sense just as 'loci' and memory palaces. Edit addendum: There are theories about which senses are our dominant ones, and how they affect our learning processes. Some may lean towards visual ques in their mental life, others on kinetic or sound. Personlly I experience my mental models as spatial. Even abstract thoughts become situated "somewhere", if not by itself, then by contrast of other things on my mind. "Everything is a Memory palace." Needless to say, when I'm deep off in a terminal with something, I don't think I'd describe it as text-based.
- cycomanic 6y agoActually the whole different people learn with different senses has been disproved in neuroscience. It's a myth that holds itself persistently in education. There is a very good article about this: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3817 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3817
- bonestamp2 6y agoI think PDFs are also less distracting since they tend to have very minimal navigation elements, very few advertisements if any, rarely ever have animation or video content, etc.