There are people who read extensively, book after book from start to finish. They know immense extent of information. But they are incapable of assorting the material that they have gathered from books. They can’t classify the information they have as to useful and useless. Very often they have vague information of what they had read and they are neither able to pinpoint where and from which book they got the information nor the information is absolutely correct reproduction.
They can’t give pinpointed information principally because the extent of information is very vast and it is not assorted.
To forget is to remember. If you want to remember important things you have to forget unwanted things. You have to reduce the load on your faculties. If you remember or try to remember every information, the remembrance is neither clear nor full. It is always vague.
It is not enough if we emphasize to the children the need to read, we should emphasize the mode of studying. We must tell that as and when they are reading their mind should simultaneously work and find out what is useful and what is not. They must learn the discretion to skip pages while reading when they come to useless information. Atleast if they can’t skip pages, they must have the wisdom and knowledge to throw overboard what is not useful.
Reading is always with a purpose. Depending on your calling, your need, your love, your taste, you are looking for some information. If you are reading a book with the idea of you having to become a writer, the vocabulary, the presentation, the description of cloud and flowers would all be useful. If you are reading the same book only to know the story, the above informations would be useless. The person who reads must know what is useful to him and what is not useful to him.
Reading could be to earn one’s daily bread or to achieve higher human aspirations or to know about the world in which we have to live or may be to know the inner secrets of philosophy which may give you peace of mind. It is for you to decide the purpose of reading. Depending upon the purpose, what is useful and what is not useful has to be decided.
When you read history if it is to face examination the dates of war would be relevant. If you are reading history to know life or to lead a country being at the helm of affairs the dates are not relevant but what strategies were adopted, what input gave what results would be relevant.
If the children are not respected by giving them choice at each and every stage, if the children are not encouraged to take decisions for themselves, if the children are not told that they are intelligent enough to classify what is useful and what is not useful and if children are not told to forget what is not necessary, so that they can remember what is necessary, their growth would be hampered.
Collection of informations without assorting would make such men useless but egoistic and conceited. He considers himself well educated. whereas the truth is he has distanced himself from the realities of the life.
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ReplyDelete"To forget is to remember. If you want to remember important things you have to forget unwanted things."
ReplyDeleteThat's totally flawed, memory doesn't work like that. As far as I know there is no scientific basis to that. Where did you find it? I am curious!!
Reading is an art. A student has to really recognise their concentration levels while they study, because studying without concentration, is of no use. I wish children had brains with a delete program so they can delete the information which they may think unwanted by them. I would like to recall an official comment which said that driving while talking, will consume the capacity of the brain! leaving less brain for driving. According to the author of this blog, you are not supposed to ask a kid to read because the kid is supposed to do what it wants to do. The kid may study if it wants to but not when you ask. So conditions to study for the kid according to this blog, could be poisonou or venomous in accordance to the previous blog.
ReplyDeleteIt is most unfortunate that the "Scientific Community" always talk of Research based facts as the only truth and the absolute truth. They really miss out the obvious. The recent article in TOI of the Medical Body in Britain calling for banning Homeopathy stating that it is Witch craft and is not based on "scientific research". Scientific Research is mostly centered where there is money to be made. Homeopathy is truly a medicine for the masses, providing relief at a low cost. Mahatma Gandhi advocated this medicine as ideal for India with the large poor population.
ReplyDeleteI am over 50yrs now and I can fully agree with the author on the concept of memory. I did not read about it till now, but I have been practicing the concept of not making an effort to recall unnecessary and only focussing on the necessary info., since childhood. It does help and in fact I have advised my wife and son on also on the benefits of committing to memory only what is needed.