[dneronique]

> We were all told we have to memorize things because we can't carry the textbook around with us

I was told to memorize things because it's much faster to recall items than it is to look them up.

I also don't consider memorizing certain historical facts "pointless", I think they are vital for context. The birth/death dates of a certain author may have little value in of itself, but it may have a lot of to say about the era they lived in and how/why their works were/are relevant.

Agreed that "critical thinking style education" is worlds better than mere memorization, but let's not forget that the devil is in the details, and its those details that you benefit most from memorizing.

[Taek]

I think it's pointless to have to memorize it. You need to know the events and the general timelines, but does it matter if it was 1492 vs 1500? It's okay for your brain to generalize and compress a lot of that knowledge, the context will still be there for general discussion. If suddenly the exact date does become important, it'll take our kids 90s to look it up.

As technogy gets more integrated into our lives (think Siri), that could drop as low as 30 or even 15 seconds.

What's important is that you are able to have an informed and intelligent discussion about the topics you learn in school. The exact year of the Emancipation Proclaimation is less important as long as you understand the events around it. Same thing with the melting point of Gallium. There's no need to memorize that, as long as you understand the general concept that Gallium melts at a very low temperature, and what this means in terms of its uses.

[salvadors]

> does it matter if it was 1492 vs 1500? ... If suddenly the exact date does become important, it'll take our kids 90s to look it up

The issue is more subtle than that. In lots of cases the value of knowing the information is when it lets you make connections that you wouldn't otherwise have _realised_ were important.

Let's say you're reading something that happens to mention The Alhambra Decree. You've never heard of this before, so you do a quick Wikipedia lookup, where the first paragraph says:

"The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion) was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon) ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year."

If that "1492" is a well primed trigger point for you — especially in a context involving Spain — you're much more likely to pause for a second and wonder if this might be related to anything else you know about that year. And, although the remainder of this page never mentions Columbus at all, it doesn't take you much searching to discover that there are indeed some very interesting connections between the two, some of which lead to further questions about Columbus' own religious background and leanings.

But if that 1492 doesn't have that trigger effect, you're much less likely to draw any connection here, and simply nod and return to your original reading.

We do that all the time. There are so many things that pass us by constantly because we simply don't even realise there's anything worth paying attention to. The more hooks we create in our brains for those to get snagged on in passing, the deeper you start to understand things, and the more interesting life becomes.

[dm2]

If you are a history major then what you said might be true, but expecting every student in the US to memorize those dates and everything similar (melting points, number of protons/electrons, dates of birth of authors) is insane and very counterproductive. Especially in basic required classes in high-school.

Students are not willing to learn those details and it turns them off to school and wastes valuable time that could be utilized to better prepare them for the real world.

How many professions could use ANY of the information you mentioned in your post?