Are you the memorization type or the understanding type?

I believe that human thought processes can be broadly divided into two types: the memorization type and the understanding type.

<Memorization Type>

First, let's look at the memorization type. In schools and cram schools, isn't the priority placed on stuffing knowledge into students and making them memorize it? To put it bluntly, the teachers are 'distributing' a wealth of knowledge, so they have a heavy workload, are busy and overwhelmed themselves, and are likely quite satisfied with their position as teachers looking down from above. On the other hand, what about those being taught? They are given a vast amount of information and are forced to focus on the simple task of just memorizing it.

Even in exams, the focus is on testing the amount of knowledge memorized; those who have more of it get higher scores, and such people are considered 'smart.' Conversely, those who are not good at memorizing and cannot do it well will not see their scores improve, leading to a low evaluation.

Regardless of whether one is smart or not, memorizing itself is something anyone can do if they take the time or use simple tricks like previewing and reviewing. I believe that differences in retention rates or the speed of retention are just individual differences.

The teachers just convey a fixed curriculum and check if the students remember it. From my perspective, this seems similar to how judges in the lay judge system, in order to reduce their own responsibility for verdicts and to make the general public understand how difficult their job is, unilaterally summon ordinary citizens and irresponsibly push their own responsibilities onto them just to make things easier for themselves. Please note that this is just my personal opinion.

I've digressed a bit, but this is the same as a machine. Whether it's a cheap machine or a high-performance one, it's just a machine. People raised in such an educational environment can only do what they have been taught. They don't understand anything else. They cannot do what they haven't been taught, they won't even try, and they think they don't have to, shifting the blame as if it's natural, saying it's the fault of the person who didn't teach them. There is no growth there. Because there is no growth, there is no sense of fulfillment. To fill that vague, empty feeling, they start to frame others or laugh at others' misfortunes without a second thought. One of the causes of bullying lies here. I would like to write about the causes of bullying in a separate article later.

In today's world where AI (artificial intelligence) has emerged, necessary knowledge and information can be searched and retrieved from the internet as much as you want. The amount, often called big data, is at a level that humans cannot match. I believe the necessity for humans who have only stuffed themselves with such knowledge is constantly declining. We must cultivate 'wisdom,' not knowledge. We should leave 'memorizing' to machines.

<Understanding Type>

What exactly is it that separates machines from humans? It is 'thinking'.

There is a famous saying, 'Man is a thinking reed.' As I mentioned in the previous article, I think this saying has various meanings.

Humans are as fragile as reeds. Reeds cannot think, but humans can. This ability to think is the dignity of humanity. Thinking deeply is the most important thing. That is what it means.

Suppose you obtain a piece of information. Instead of ending the process by just treating it as a single piece of information, you should consider where it came from, why such information was obtained, why it happened that way, what will happen if that's the case, what if I try this, it worked, I did it! Expanding the breadth of thought and making inferences in this way is the basis of thinking. The power to create something new from one piece of information or by combining it with other information is the greatest achievement gained from 'thinking'.

'Hearing one and knowing ten' is what this is all about. Even if you hear ten and understand all ten, that just ends with getting a perfect score on a test. It's better if you understand all ten, but that's not enough.

Understanding is one step in thinking. It is the result obtained by making inferences. Unless you understand in this way, you cannot apply it. Thinking about things that are different from what you were taught, things that are faster or easier, or things that go a step further, or things that are likely to happen in the future—you cannot do this just by remembering what you were taught. This 'power to create' is the most important thing we must cherish, and I believe that fostering this power is the most important thing for necessary human development. I think this is very important and beneficial for living life after entering society.

<Recommendation for understanding-type thinking>

If you can achieve a correct understanding of a certain matter, you will be able to apply it to derived situations. You can develop your thinking to say, 'Since that is this way, this must also be this way,' or 'In this case, I should do this.' By doing so, you can achieve results that exceed what you have memorized. I believe that being able to apply knowledge is the most important thing.

Isn't that what thinking and understanding are all about?

While I believe these two thinking patterns are greatly influenced by one's educational environment, by changing your mindset just a little, even a brain that has been of the memorization type can become one of the understanding type.

Instead of just ending with remembering information as mere knowledge, try to infer the true intent behind why a text was created, or why a person did or said something, and try to grasp that true meaning; this is something you can do with anything in your daily life. By just changing your perspective a little, you may start to see things that were previously invisible. It means elevating knowledge into 'wisdom'.

Which type are you? Why not stop for a moment and think about it?

Thank you for reading to the end. Did you find anything helpful? I would be very happy if you had an 'Aha!' moment. If you liked this, please give it a like or follow me. I will continue to write useful articles, so I look forward to your support.