There may be ways of “expanding one’s working memory” or working with it better so it can do more:
A 100-word sentence introducing a new concept is often annoyingly hard to wrap one’s head around, compared to a longer and more “gentle” explanation.
Compare the effectiveness of words to pictures, and where one does better than the other.
I can say “any cycle of gears must have an even number of gears” or I can show a picture of three interlocked gears and ask “Can these gears move?”.
Sure, these kinds of tricks help explain how we’ve done a lot with the working memory we have, but doesn’t it feel like a tragically stingy amount?
Eh. I’m more fussed about the difficulty of a) holding info in one’s head for longer periods, b) absorbing new information, c) updating.
More “Working memory” would be great, but if you can’t remember what you worked out, what’s the point?
There may be ways of “expanding one’s working memory” or working with it better so it can do more:
Compare the effectiveness of words to pictures, and where one does better than the other.
I can say “any cycle of gears must have an even number of gears” or I can show a picture of three interlocked gears and ask “Can these gears move?”.
Sure, these kinds of tricks help explain how we’ve done a lot with the working memory we have, but doesn’t it feel like a tragically stingy amount?
Eh. I’m more fussed about the difficulty of a) holding info in one’s head for longer periods, b) absorbing new information, c) updating.
More “Working memory” would be great, but if you can’t remember what you worked out, what’s the point?