[IAmBroom]

I can name exactly one living human being who has memorized Beowulf. 1200 years ago that number was undoubtedly greater.

Not as relevant today, you say? OK, name someone who has memorized a work of similar length.

So, I agree with you. That kind of "long-read" memorization is no longer appreciated and cultivated, and I have no doubt it impacts our brains differently than watching a YT video.

[nh23423fefe]

There are a bunch of people who memorize digits of pi now. These kinds of memorization feats are just status seeking showoffs. Why should imagine the brains of people a 1000 years ago were somehow different because they could memorize something I have no interest in?

[Brendinooo]

> These kinds of memorization feats are just status seeking showoffs

If it feels this way it's only because 1) it's an optional skill in our society as it's currently constructed and 2) for pi specifically, once you get past 15 significant figures you're kinda wasting your effort anyways[0].

I mean, sure. Anyone can flaunt their excesses. But if the functioning of society depended on people memorizing pi, more people would do it and would be less likely to do it in a showoffy way.

> Why should imagine the brains of people a 1000 years ago were somehow different

Because, in the lifetimes of a bunch of people who hang around here, we've experienced in real time how reliance on search engines can alter our memory processes. It's not a reach at all to extrapolate that to the question of memorization vs. relying on books.

[0]: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/how-many-decimals-of-pi-do...