People Mechanics – Part 2

You might be asking yourself: “Which is better…episodic or procedural memory?” The simple answer: Procedural. I recall hearing an interview of a psychologist in which he took an Alzheimer’s patient to a golf course once. This patient was, once, a very avid golfer. Upon getting to the golf course and getting his hands on some golf clubs everything about golfing came back to the man. However, on the way back from the golf course the gentleman saw the golf course and the beautiful day and remarked how “beautiful the day was” and that they should go golfing.

I’ve long held to the belief that this is the reason that the military emphasizes battle drills. Just as you have probably seen soldiers, marines, sailors, or airmen march (although it is more likely to be one of the first two), you probably noticed that everyone performed a series of precise, discrete series’ of movements along with other members of their formation that can amount to some very spectacular sights to see. The same can be said for rifle drills: Everything in these drills and ceremonies is nothing more than a number of actions, one after the other. They can be repeated until perfect, able to be memorized to the point where someone can do it in their sleep.

The concept of drills does not stop at simply marching troops or inspecting their arms: Battle drills are used for many team maneuvers from building a bridge to constructing a mine-laying system. The more that drills are repeated and “drilled” into memory, the less a person needs to think about them when it comes to doing them. The concept of drilling removes the need to consciously thinking about performing a task when it matters, rather it is made a “second nature.”

Now, the talk about the emotional component earlier is not lost to the battle drill. The feeling of being a part of a team, that one has purpose, a sense of urgency: These are both satisfying emotions, adding to the effectiveness of the battle drill and why it can be remembered so well.

So, memories are often not simple bits of information stored in your brain. Rather, they are often embedded in a web of context. Data coupled with more data, random bits of different memories and types thereof comprising a larger set of data, eventually linking all thoughts in the brain together to form the sum of your experiences. Context is the key.

I’ve met people who have difficulty, for one reason or another, learning new data because of the lack of context it has in their everyday life. Of course, not everyone is going to find an essay on “Ode to a Grecian Urn” important, or even satisfying or pleasurable, to fit into their worldview. A person who has an affinity for history, art, literature, teaching, or to just broaden their perspective on the world at large is, however, going to take note of the Keats piece. People are often not compelled to expand their horizons with new sorts of information that don’t directly apply to their immediate world, though. How is one to combat this?

Of course, there is the “Knowledge is power,” contrasted with “ignorance is bliss.” I always think that a mediocre individual came up with that last saying. The first statement, however, holds some interesting ramifications with it…if we look a bit deeper.