Photo by Adam UXB Smith

We have all taken that class in school where you only need to remember the information for the next 3 hours to pass the test, and then you will never need to look at the information again. What is the point of committing to memory a load of information when you will only need to answer three questions, and then can never possibly need to know it again? We have also all been in the position where we had entirely forgotten about our test in 33 minutes, and need to pack in as much information as possible to get a passing grade.

Most teachers, and the traditional education system will not give any credit to the valuable skill of learning how to Cram. They will tell you it doesn’t work, that you are better off fully learning it, and to some extent they are right. If you are going to be a police man, perhaps actually learning the Miranda Rights is better than quickly looking them over before going to talk to the culprit (some cops do use cards). In most cases though, the tests you will be taking in school are full of useless information that you will never even need to think about in the future, so committing the information to SHORT TERM MEMORY is the ideal approach.

This information will only be with you for the next few hours to the next few days. Bits and pieces may stick around for longer, but the bulk of the data will be gone soon enough. If you feel that learning the information for the short term is appropriate, take the following bits of advice.

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