[HN Gopher] Memory Techniques from Vedic Learning [pdf]
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       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.
        
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       (page generated 2021-02-20 23:00 UTC)