Remembering quickly is different than memorizing.
Remembering quickly is what you do when you’re singing karaoke. It’s all there but you’ve got to remember it moment by moment. It’s a constant nano-second by nano-second version of ‘ok what’s next?…oh yeah I remember’.
Memorizing is different. When it’s memorized you can do something in addition to what you’ve memorized. You can build on it. You can sing the song AND perform it. You know the words so now you can choose what to emphasize.
(A student driver is constantly remembering how to drive. That’s why they have the sticker on the back and we give them extra room. But once it’s all memorized, it’s time to roll the windows down and enjoy the ride.)
If remembering quickly is all that is needed, there’s no need to memorize.
But some things are worth memorizing so we can do something with the new freedom that comes on the other side of the memorizing.
