Memorisation is the thief of imagination

Rohan Quine has written a novel about a young, famous concert pianist, Jack, who also has the ability to absorb, read steal, the memories and imaginings, of others. The publicity blurb says, “It celebrates the extreme possibilities of human imagination, personality and language, exploring the darkest and brightest flavours of beauty living in our minds.”
It’s a concept that, as an educator, I have always sought to defend my students against, but from a slightly different perspective. You see, whilst appreciating the purpose of remembering ‘stuff,’ I have always been at odds with those who can quote vast tracts of information, yet be uncertain of their true purpose, context and implications. We no longer regard ‘knowledge,’ as how to reproduce information, as our world today requires us to be responsive to stimuli, to react as our nature dictates, and above all, as our imagination inspires us.
Stanford University researcher, Talya Myers, took aim, a few years back, at JK Rowling, creator and author of the phenomenal ‘Harry Potter’ series.
In an intriguing article, Myers criticised Rowling for posting ‘new’ information on the Potter characters, via her new website ‘Pottermore,’ taking away from the imaginative experience engendered by reading the books.
Myers was critical of Rowling, who had been quoted as wanting to make a particular point, by “leaving out every bit of information I could,” in order that the readers could form their own interpretations of characters and situations, agreeing or disagreeing with the author, and as Myers wrote, using “your imagination and analytical skills where the author has left off.” She is further disappointed that, having made a revelation on Dumbledore, on the website, Rowling has intruded on the reader’s experience, after all, maybe the reader saw him as merely ‘different,’ a bit weird perhaps, it doesn’t matter, Rowling’s announcement forever affected the imaginative possibilities of the reader, their scope, their potential, and their ability to see the character in their own interpretive manner.
In the same way, forcing, and teaching our children to memorise information is an absolute anathema, to a lifetime of quality learning experiences. Rather, as teachers and parents we should focus on the children ‘knowing’ things.
Much of what any of us see, engage with, and are active in, we will never do again in our lives, but the associative experiences will shape our decisions and actions for our whole lives. Knowing that, why waste time memorising everything we see? To what end, and to what purpose?
Today, we need to imagine possibilities, not to remember how to do something. If we know the purpose of our actions, we may find a better way of doing it. We must always be looking forward, seeing the possibilities, not lurking in the security of how things have been done, but dancing in the open spaces of future generations.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn the more places you’ll go,” is a quote from Dr Seuss, and his hypothesis was not necessarily that you will travel more, but that your imagination will take you to so many different places. You will imagine, dream, and journey, without leaving your comfy chair.
I am a firm believer that memorisation is not just the thief of imagination, but may be compared to a starlit night. Me, I would rather see the next generation raised in the daylight, where they can see all that is around them, and make their own decisions where to go, rather than be forced to navigate by the stars, going, but seeing so little that they will only want to sleep. The light of day offers discovery, change, and challenge. I know which of those two journey options I would want my kids on.