Re:Ask HN: What's the hardest problem you've ever solved?
by dahart on Sunday November 18, 2018 @11:05AM
(#18480945)
That is unbelievable! How did you index the audio? What did you have to do to access them during a test, and how long did it take? Did you find that you had accidentally memorized some of the lectures after having read them aloud?
> I rejected memorisation on principle, that's not what an university should be about.
The lengths you went to to avoid doing it the easy way are incredible. You’re not alone, but I have to say I think this idea - that university should not involve memorization - is a common misconception. If you think about it, a good education requires memorization. What we’re learning in all fields in large amounts - even in math - is some degree of human history, and some degree of human notation and convention, neither of which can be derived by logic. Think about language, becoming a fluent speaker, especially the first time, is almost entirely learn by rote.
> I rejected memorisation on principle, that's not what an university should be about.
The lengths you went to to avoid doing it the easy way are incredible. You’re not alone, but I have to say I think this idea - that university should not involve memorization - is a common misconception. If you think about it, a good education requires memorization. What we’re learning in all fields in large amounts - even in math - is some degree of human history, and some degree of human notation and convention, neither of which can be derived by logic. Think about language, becoming a fluent speaker, especially the first time, is almost entirely learn by rote.