Why do fundies think education = memorization?

[Artemis]

I find it interesting she then posts quote from a Jane Austen novel which showcases the "great" education children who can "repeat the chronological order of the kings of England, with the dates of their accession, and most of the principal events of their reigns".

The Austen quote is from Mansfield Park, and is Maria and Julia Bertram pluming themselves on the excellence of their education compared to their less privileged cousin, Fanny, who 'has never put a map of Europe together'.

Alas, their good education in memorisation did them no good, since Maria married a man she despised 'being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry.',

proceeded once married to continue to flirt with the man she really loved, and ended up abandoning her marriage and eloping with him, thus putting herself outside the pale of society for ever, and being completely cast off by her family. Julia, once Maria had left her marriage, was worried that her father would suddenly restrict her social life, and so eloped with one of the silliest characters in the book.

So yes, an education in memorisation was extremely useful . . . :D

And made such a difference to them morally, of course, since they were not educated at evil public schools (not that any girls were in that era!)

[pomology]

That's the thing. Back in Austen's time, information was hard to come by. There were not public libraries and books were expensive. So people only had daily access to information stored in their brain, making memorization an important part of learning. In modern times, information is constantly available, making rote memorization obsolete in many cases.

That said, I have found that in many of my more difficult classes, rote memorization has a place. It is hard to understand a concept until I know the details. Once I have rote memorized, I can begin to actually see what is going on. For example, in biochemistry I have to to learn about some complex reaction involving chymotrypsin. So I rote memorized the reaction and the characteristics of the various components, then I began to actually see how the different molecules were interacting. But not everyone's brain works that way!

Yes, I am aware that back in the day people didn't have information at their fingertips. Memorization has an important role in many types of learning. But memorization alone is not an education. And having more things memorized does not equal more educated.

I don't think memorization is an entirely useless skill or has not role at all in education. I just think that being able to rattle off all the kings of England or, in my case, every country and its capital(s) means absolutely nothing on its own.