More is less: add details to FACILITATE memorization

speed-reading

Many of my students try to remember a “marker” of just one word. This is a hard and counterproductive exercise. A word without any context is abstract. Remembering a chunk of multiple words in the same context is actually an easier task. In some sense the “random words” exercise is much harder than remembering actual …

Academic learning transforms us into autodidacts

subvocalization

Academic learning transforms us into autodidacts: Most of our knowledge comes from a combination of experience and information. The most appealing quality of information is its availability. However, we measure our lives in experiences. More reading materials available here, here, here, here, here and here. What is an autodidact  Definition of autodidact is an individual …

15th century wars

wars

There was something strange in 15th-century warfare. It was very technologically advanced and complex. That was the time of the early renaissance and the high middle ages. Sometimes I am surprised by how modern these stories sound. Some of the most medieval stories coexist with stories we would expect from our own century. Jeanne d’Arc …