What would you memorize if you could?

[AndreasC]

What in physics (or some other topic) would you memorize if you could? Yeah I know memorization doesn't usually have a point, just asking, if you could just do it without effort, what would it be? Or maybe you have done it, in which case, what is it?

 

[Tom.G]

Peoples names! They just don't stick.

 

[Rive]

memorization doesn't usually have a point

?
If memorization has no point, then flexing your muscles is just the same

There are plenty of texts ('classics') of logical and language patterns, reasoning, polished language and so on (like throwing in some bombastic citations in a conversation). Many schools has some relevant lists (maybe not for the last one, though).

And by now, most of them is not just the 'good old' dry stuff anymore.

 

[Mayhem]

Position of elements in the periodic table to easily recall electron confinguration.

 

[AndreasC]

Position of elements in the periodic table to easily recall electron confinguration.

That's a decent one.

 

[JT Smith]

Where all my stuff is at any point in time.

 

[marcusl]

Poetry. I’m always impressed by (and maybe a bit jealous of) people who can recite poems.

 

[nuuskur]

An extensive list of textbooks on operator algebras and C*-algebras.

 

[Borg]

All the digits of pi. I think there's 10 of them.

 

[berkeman]

A good friend of mine who I worked with in Electrical Engineering R&D decided that he wanted to pursue a dream of his and become a doctor instead. He went to medical school, graduated, and became a successful doc in the Denver, Colorado area.

We met up a few years after he had graduated from medical school, and I asked him if medical school was as hard as it seemed. He answered that no, it was actually pretty easy for him. He said that medical school is about 80% memorization, especially for the first couple of years, and since he'd always been good at memorizing things, it made it much easier for him to excel in his classes.

So I'd probably want to be able to memorize all of the A&P (anatomy & physiology), biology, chemistry, pharmacology, etc. that goes into medical school. If I were younger, I'd probably pursue the MD route like my friend.

 

[AndreasC]

An extensive list of textbooks on operator algebras and C*-algebras.

I should probably add the qualification "as long as it's at least conceivable" to my question...

 

[Hornbein]

An English-Japanese dictionary.

 

[pinball1970]

At uni it would have been a toss up between the biochemistry pathways or Latin binomial names for the fungi. Some ridiculous names there.

 

[emii]

What in physics (or some other topic) would you memorize if you could? Yeah I know memorization doesn't usually have a point, just asking, if you could just do it without effort, what would it be? Or maybe you have done it, in which case, what is it?

If there was one area of physics that I could learn by heart, it would be the key concepts and equations of quantum mechanics, including the uncertainty principle and the laws of quantum mechanics

 

[AndreasC]

If there was one area of physics that I could learn by heart, it would be the key concepts and equations of quantum mechanics, including the uncertainty principle and the laws of quantum mechanics

Well the thing with that is, there isn't that much to memorize, it's understanding that's hard.