[HN Gopher] Memory Techniques from Vedic Learning [pdf] ___________________________________________________________________ Memory Techniques from Vedic Learning [pdf] Author : keiferski Score : 57 points Date : 2021-02-20 19:06 UTC (3 hours ago) (HTM) web link (artofmemory.com) (TXT) w3m dump (artofmemory.com) | RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: | > The oral tradition of vedic learning has preserved the entire | vedic texts by purely human memory for several generations. This | in an enormous accomplishment given the vast corpus of text | preserved without any errors creeping in.This has been made | possible by a diligently devised systematic scheme of chanting | the vedic corpus. | | A system of chanting for memory has been used since pre-history | across many cultures. See for example Greek epic poetry, Hebrew | Scripture, Arabic Koran, Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, Viking sagas. | | In ptr-literate societies, bards were able to memorize huge | amounts of information and recite to their listeners. Much of the | poetry with its rhyme/meter/repetition was written that way to | aid in memorization. | | That sort of memorization got a lot less as literacy grew and | people could just read stuff for themselves, but it was pretty | widespread and certainly not something unique to the Vedic | tradition. | duskwuff wrote: | > This in an enormous accomplishment given the vast corpus of | text preserved without any errors creeping in. | | This bit is particularly questionable. It's unproveable -- if a | text was _only_ transmitted orally, there 's no way to compare | its modern form to an older version -- and it's probably wrong. | The short-range memorization techniques described in the | article don't guard against larger-scale errors in | memorization, like omitting a "chapter" of a text, nor do they | prevent single-word changes, like a student mishearing a word | for another similar-sounding word. | boxed wrote: | More pseudo scientific bs from Hindu nationalists. | ajju wrote: | The article focuses on texts of Hinduism but I don't understand | the criticism. The article seems to accurately describe how | vedic verses were memorized using simple techniques like | chunking and chaining. The author starts by pointing out that | pretty much everyone uses these techniques to memorize phone | numbers, so I don't see any surreptitious glorification of | religion here. | abledon wrote: | do you think if, for say, 20 generations, your family practiced | these mental exercises... would your DNA/RNA (more % turned | 'on'[1]) be primed for increased memorization ? | | [1] https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/genes- | turned-... | keiferski wrote: | From my understanding, this is essentially Lamarckism, which | was not taken as fact for a long time but has (recently?) been | investigated again. | | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamarckism | ajju wrote: | Fascinating. As a child, I semi-reluctantly learned vedic | chanting when staying with relatives over the summer. It was very | interesting to understand the "algorithms" behind the techniques | they used to have us memorize each "shlok". As the author says, | these served an important purpose to transmit knowledge to future | generations when writing materials and books were scarce and | delicate. | naruvimama wrote: | The idea that memorization was used due to a lack of writing | material is just a modern and shallow interpretation. | | The ancients considered written text as less authentic, and | rightly so. | | Oral knowledge is spread among the populance and can not be | destroyed or distorted by few actors. | keiferski wrote: | It seems increasingly obvious to me that memorization and | learning play a really important role in maintaining basic | intellectual standards. Everything can't be googled and even | if it could be, retrieval isn't equivalent to knowledge. | Having personally memorized a lot of things via Anki, there | is a noticeable difference when you can "chew on" something | mentally at a subconscious level. | thecleaner wrote: | I mean yeah we get it. Everything from Einstein's equation to | memory techniques to anatomy to the cure for goddamn covid was in | the Vedas. Can we have less of these please ? I am sure India the | country has contributed other things worth show-and-tell after | the Vedas were written. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2021-02-20 23:00 UTC)