What tools or methods are useful for retaining what one reads or understands.
I often find that when I am reading something I have a clear understanding of what the author is communicating. Sometimes I have to go back and re-read a number of times to get the full effect.
But later, when I try to recall the what and why of it I have difficulty in recalling it with the same clarity.
Other times, the study really ‘clicks’ and I have no trouble recalling it.
What is it that makes retention and recall more reliable?
I took an eighteen hour memory course, but I forgot how it works.
The key to memory is the way you store the information. Our brains do a much better job at storing information on objects than abstract thoughts. One of the reasons the ancients used myths was because it’s much easier to store and recall a story where abstract ideas are put into more concrete forms.
The brain also can usually handle only a limited amount of information at a time. This is in the neighborhood of 5 to 9 discrete pieces of information; variation depends on the individual.
Now when it comes to reading, if you’re having problems with long term recall you need to simpify the concepts into a more managable number, take notes, and then associate each point with a concrete form. The more wild the concrete form is, the easier it will be to recall the information. Linking the thought with visual and auditory elements helps your brain do a better job at storing. I know the idea sounds crazy, but it does work a hell of a lot better than rote memory.
IMO: retention is a given if the information you’re analyzing is relative to a prior ends. IOW: Listen to an adolescent neophyte spout nonsense like, “Communism works on paper” or “The Great Depression was caused by faith in the integrity of the Capitalist system” and subsequently experience a cognitive cold snap while reading. However, I wouldn’t advise listening to mind rotting crankery before taking the time educate yourself. There was a span of time I was unable to read undisturbed without initiating flashbacks; I had an anxious desire to refute them. Oh the cognitive dissonance I faced reading Economics in One Lesson!
You could try summarizing the information within the paragraphs, or work with Robert Murphy’s study guides to Human Action and Man Economy and State. That sort systematic approach may give you an idea of what methods to develop.
If all else fails give into the dark side… of nootropic drugs [6].
What I do is when I read or after I read I usually think about the book I’m reading and how it relates to life and to me and to other things I see. I try to put it in perspective. I don’t try to memorize every little thing that’s said. I try to memorize the big points and to understand the general message. I learn the important concepts. You’ll probably never be able to memorize what you read 100% well.. but you can remember the main ideas about what you read.
I forget where I read this, but I remember learning of an estimated percentage of memory retention through various methods: Reading, Writing, Speaking, etc, being 20%, 40%, & 20% respectively.
A college try at google doesn’t yield much results of a source, though, so don’t take my word for it.
A good solution might be to get a cheap mp3 player w/a mic & recording capability (sanza fuse; 40 to 80 bucks, 2 or 4gb Flash models) to record yourself speaking.
You can listen to the .wav voice file whenever your on the go, and if at a desk, write the audio accordingly in note-taking form, maybe throw in a few rote sessions of continuously writing these various notes (further condensing information to it’s most relevant and/or important), then dispense with the aids & try cognitively recalling on your own information, possibly grading yourself accordingly with some sort of measurement for accuracy, time spent on recall, etc. Mnemonic devices & such other tricks might help as well.
This might help more so with foreign languages (which also involves immersion in culture; for more general information, this might translate to an immersion into more information, or making more neural connections with your information to make it more relevant to remember)
Thanks for all the good suggestions. I really am old enough to know this stuff. An old dog just likes to learn a new trick now & then.
I recently started working on the Human Action study guide - created a document file to type in the questions and then fill in my answers as I go along. I have to refer back to the text often!
Also have kept a jornal of particular thoughts now & then. Part is an outline for what I feign as a book. It is quite evident from reading what I put down a few years ago that an old dog can change!
I appreciate the opportunity that a forum like this have to offer. Public scrutiny is a demanding teacher.