Many people view memory as unimportant to deep creative work

When telling others that Spaced repetition memory systems make memory a choice, people often react quite negatively: “What’s the point of memorizing all that stuff? Rote knowledge isn’t what matters: I want conceptual understanding, creativity, artistry, etc!”

One response to this is to point out that in fact, Spaced repetition memory systems can be used to develop conceptual understanding. But it’s also important to take seriously the claims against the value of memorization. Some responses there:

• Basic cognitive tasks rely on memory
• Some kinds of creative insight depend on long-term memory
• Memory augmentation may make it easier to learn complex topics by decreasing working memory load
• Deep understanding requires detailed knowledge of fundamentals
  • Expertise requires building sophisticated chunk recoding schemes
  • People underrate the importance of memory because of bad experiences with rote memorization in school
• Memory systems help you focus on deeper engagement by automating away rote memorization
• Memory augmentation can accelerate the unpleasant early stages of learning a subject

More generally: Spaced repetition and creativity

References

Matuschak, A., & Nielsen, M. (2019, October 0). How can we develop transformative tools for thought? https://numinous.productions/ttft (see section “How important is memory anyway?”)