If only the human mind were as reliable as computer memory. It would be so easy to study Torah and related materials, then. Easy to recall all the details. For the human mind, however, it’s not a simple matter of uploading and downloading information.
Over several weeks, one reads a couple hundred pages of a textbook, sometimes over and over again. The mind engages, soaks in facts, then starts the process of comparing that information to all their prior life experiences, trying to make connections, spot contradictions, and filter it all into an end product called truth. Or at least an opinion on the truth of the matter.
Of course, it’s good practice. If I do go all the way down this path to ordination, I will eventually be expected to do this sort of thing every week and distill it into a couple end products: a Torah commentary and a sermon. As much work as it is, it’s exciting.
Tags: computer memory, ordination, sermon, Torah commentary
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on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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Slow and imperfect human memory
March 12th, 2007 by Craig Hansen
If only the human mind were as reliable as computer memory. It would be so easy to study Torah and related materials, then. Easy to recall all the details. For the human mind, however, it’s not a simple matter of uploading and downloading information.
Over several weeks, one reads a couple hundred pages of a textbook, sometimes over and over again. The mind engages, soaks in facts, then starts the process of comparing that information to all their prior life experiences, trying to make connections, spot contradictions, and filter it all into an end product called truth. Or at least an opinion on the truth of the matter.
Of course, it’s good practice. If I do go all the way down this path to ordination, I will eventually be expected to do this sort of thing every week and distill it into a couple end products: a Torah commentary and a sermon. As much work as it is, it’s exciting.
Tags: computer memory, ordination, sermon, Torah commentary
This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.