What if the mnemonic medium were reframed as a means to engage more deeply with a text?

The Mnemonic medium encodes—in its name, even—its focus on helping readers build detailed memory of what they read. This is clearly quite helpful for platform knowledge (The mnemonic medium is particularly valuable for platform knowledge), but detailed memory usually isn’t the primary goal for other genres of writing.

In thinking about How might the mnemonic medium enable readers in genres outside platform knowledge?, one approach is to use the prompts less as a means for building detailed memory and more as a means for prompting deeper engagement (a la The mnemonic medium may push readers to read more slowly and attentively), not just during the reading experience but stretching through time (The mnemonic medium keeps readers in contact with material over time).

A related potential mechanism: Embedded prompt templates may actively scaffold prompt-writing for mnemonic medium readers

“Bringing ideas into your orbit”

Using memory systems to memorize text passages - Michael Nielsen suggests some strategies for elaboration and deeper processing in the context of verbatim memorization.

Last updated 2023-12-07.