[_yoqn]

The way to remember what you read is to make sure you understand all the words in the text, the way they apply in context.

It's the micro-misunderstandings that lead up to the macro-misunderstanding which manifests as "forgetting".

Other commenters also mention applying what's in the book. That is 100% true, when you're reading about how to do something. If you're reading a fact-based book (non-fiction) but not about doing something I usually take a break from the text and think about how it would apply to the subject I'm studying. But it's just obvious that you can't get a concept if you don't understand the words that describe it.

The target is conceptual understanding. It's got nothing to do with memorization. TO get the meaning of a song, for instance, it's not necessary to memorize the lyrics.

One real-world example, I was taking care of my father in the hospital and I noticed one of the techs telling him that he needs to order his dinner from the "dysphagia" menu. I asked her if he could have some other soft foods from home and she said, "all I know is that he needs to order from the menu." I asked her what dysphagia means, honestly I didn't know. She didn't know. I looked it up and told her it means "difficulty in swallowing". She realized that she never actually understood the concept of WHY one needs to order from the menu. As if the food is somehow magic. So that helped her understand the concept of the rule, and why it applies and I am sure she hasn't forgotten it.

I don't take notes, mark up pages or speed read or use any crutch, trick or technique to study. I just get the definitions of words that I don't understand and I do just fine.

[jimbob45]

>I just get the definitions of words that I don't understand and I do just fine.

This is what turned the tide for me but it took much more discipline than I was willing to admit at first. When I stopped lying to myself about how much context clues were helping me understand the words I didn’t know, it started to take me 10 minutes to get through a page of a difficult book. However, it started to pay off when I achieved a deeper understanding of the books I was reading.

[_yoqn]

Exactly! Somewhere along the line we started being taught things like context clues and other study traps. No amount of technique can possibly replace proper vocabulary building. I spent a lot of time in the dictionary in my younger years but it’s paid off massively in my ability to study and assimilate new things.

[ttesttom]

Out of curiosity, do you mean words that are technical or specific to a field? Or more general words such as 'didactic'?

[spdionis]

Honestly, I am amazed that there are people that don't do this.

I am often wondering how different the world looks through the eyes of someone else, and it's very hard for me to imagine how people can "go through the motions" without understanding in situations like you described.

Personally, I could never remember a fact or a word without understanding the concept behind it or its significance.

[kiba]

It's easier to remember something if you understand it, which is why rote memorization is inferior, because it takes so many more repetition to get something to stick in your mind.

[_yoqn]

People need to realize that human memory != computer memory. It’s not even similar. Human intelligence is all about identification and differentiation. Intelligence comes from being able to work with raw data and seeing how it can apply to given circumstances, predicting outcomes and selecting correct actions.

Memorization is the lowest form of intelligence, although it does have uses. I think it would be very beneficial for standardized testing to move away from testing ones ability to remember dates and lists of things and more toward problem solving and ability for the student to come up with solutions to problems of the field being studied.