I think ‘rote memorization’ is underrated. Having a ton of shit laying around in your head leads to connections and being able to more precisely describe things.
September 23, 2026 at 7:47 PM
I think ‘rote memorization’ is underrated. Having a ton of shit laying around in your head leads to connections and being able to more precisely describe things.
sorry i'm still thinking about this guy being like "memorization is bad actually" lol
September 24, 2026 at 9:21 PM
sorry i'm still thinking about this guy being like "memorization is bad actually" lol
What is the relationship between memorization and generalization in AI? Is there a fundamental tradeoff? In infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/memorizati... I’ve reviewed some of the evolving perspectives on memorization & generalization in machine learning, from classic perspectives through LLMs.
Memorization vs. generalization in deep learning: implicit biases, benign overfitting, and more
Or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the memorization
infinitefaculty.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:54 PM
What is the relationship between memorization and generalization in AI? Is there a fundamental tradeoff? In infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/memorizati... I’ve reviewed some of the evolving perspectives on memorization & generalization in machine learning, from classic perspectives through LLMs.
Memorization is not expertise but there’s not really expertise without memorization either
June 23, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Memorization is not expertise but there’s not really expertise without memorization either
We should be teaching kids cladistics when they're in their Pokemon memorization era. Biology is wasted on highschoolers.
July 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
We should be teaching kids cladistics when they're in their Pokemon memorization era. Biology is wasted on highschoolers.
How about his deportment and memorization skills?
Donald Trump is expected to take the stand Monday in his civil fraud trial, where his credibility, coherence and self-control will be tested.
Trump’s Credibility, Coherence and Control Face Test on Witness Stand
The former president will testify Monday in a trial that threatens the business empire that created his public persona. He will be out of his element and under oath.
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2023 at 12:32 PM
How about his deportment and memorization skills?
things may have changed but when I was in school you basically couldn't do organic chemistry without an immense amount of memorization. just no way around it
September 23, 2026 at 7:50 PM
things may have changed but when I was in school you basically couldn't do organic chemistry without an immense amount of memorization. just no way around it
"smartphones are killing education"
education has been intentionally strangled by the us government for decades, no child left behind actively forced schools to teach only to the test and that means rote memorization, the WORST way to learn ever devized
this is the system working as intended
education has been intentionally strangled by the us government for decades, no child left behind actively forced schools to teach only to the test and that means rote memorization, the WORST way to learn ever devized
this is the system working as intended
March 2, 2026 at 12:11 AM
"smartphones are killing education"
education has been intentionally strangled by the us government for decades, no child left behind actively forced schools to teach only to the test and that means rote memorization, the WORST way to learn ever devized
this is the system working as intended
education has been intentionally strangled by the us government for decades, no child left behind actively forced schools to teach only to the test and that means rote memorization, the WORST way to learn ever devized
this is the system working as intended
One of my strongest takeaways from the Bee this week is that it was a showcase for why critical thinking matters more than ever.
So much of what the kids do up there isn’t rote memorization—it’s using their insane prep to solve words like puzzles (using etymology, patterns) in real time.
So much of what the kids do up there isn’t rote memorization—it’s using their insane prep to solve words like puzzles (using etymology, patterns) in real time.
Great feat and congratulations but as a skill it is less necessary in the age of AI and automatic spell check. Kinda like the multiplication tables.
May 29, 2026 at 4:04 PM
One of my strongest takeaways from the Bee this week is that it was a showcase for why critical thinking matters more than ever.
So much of what the kids do up there isn’t rote memorization—it’s using their insane prep to solve words like puzzles (using etymology, patterns) in real time.
So much of what the kids do up there isn’t rote memorization—it’s using their insane prep to solve words like puzzles (using etymology, patterns) in real time.
If you’re teaching closed book rote memorization exams in a masters course you are trash and should feel bad
December 26, 2024 at 5:35 PM
If you’re teaching closed book rote memorization exams in a masters course you are trash and should feel bad
It's actually worse than this. Traditional oral cultures had a strong focus on memorization, which has a lot of benefits. The modern form is passive consumption of half-watched / half-listened to slop.
It’s like large portions of America are retreating to a primarily oral culture, where complex language, analysis, logic, and abstraction are being abandoned for repetitive, simplistic, personalized, agonistic, homeostatic, and situational thinking.
September 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
It's actually worse than this. Traditional oral cultures had a strong focus on memorization, which has a lot of benefits. The modern form is passive consumption of half-watched / half-listened to slop.
the interesting thing is that claude has such high memorization imho
Researchers say GPT 4.1, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and Grok 3 can reproduce long excerpts from books they were trained on when strategically prompted (Alex Reisner/The Atlantic)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
January 10, 2026 at 7:53 AM
the interesting thing is that claude has such high memorization imho
critiquing arguments about it being impossible to learn meaning from from as "proving too much" x.com/AndrewLampin...
and discussing the relationship between memorization and generalization in LMs and other ML systems: infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/memorizati... 7/
and discussing the relationship between memorization and generalization in LMs and other ML systems: infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/memorizati... 7/
Memorization vs. generalization in deep learning: implicit biases, benign overfitting, and more
Or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the memorization
infinitefaculty.substack.com
September 26, 2026 at 9:45 PM
critiquing arguments about it being impossible to learn meaning from from as "proving too much" x.com/AndrewLampin...
and discussing the relationship between memorization and generalization in LMs and other ML systems: infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/memorizati... 7/
and discussing the relationship between memorization and generalization in LMs and other ML systems: infinitefaculty.substack.com/p/memorizati... 7/
There is actually a massive literature going back like 100 years about how memorization and factual knowledge are basically essential to be able to cognitively approach more advanced topics.
September 21, 2026 at 12:32 AM
There is actually a massive literature going back like 100 years about how memorization and factual knowledge are basically essential to be able to cognitively approach more advanced topics.
Republicans’ grades on the Bible:
Memorization: A
Comprehension: F
Memorization: A
Comprehension: F
Frost: James 2:26 says faith without works is dead. So, we can read the verses all you want but until you stand up for the healthcare of people, those words are dead
Foxx: I know that scripture very well too
Foxx: I know that scripture very well too
July 2, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Republicans’ grades on the Bible:
Memorization: A
Comprehension: F
Memorization: A
Comprehension: F
I regret that I was so blasé about letting computer take over my map skills and phone number memorization
July 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I regret that I was so blasé about letting computer take over my map skills and phone number memorization
This new Atlantic piece cites my work with @afedercooper.bsky.social, Amy Cyphert, and others in discussing the complexities around AI memorization of training content
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
www.theatlantic.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:45 PM
This new Atlantic piece cites my work with @afedercooper.bsky.social, Amy Cyphert, and others in discussing the complexities around AI memorization of training content
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
I can't picture what an autism cure or treatment would even look like. I give Linus more folic acid and, what exactly? He stops liking geography? He doesn't enjoy lists anymore? He gets worse at memorization?
September 23, 2025 at 3:44 AM
I can't picture what an autism cure or treatment would even look like. I give Linus more folic acid and, what exactly? He stops liking geography? He doesn't enjoy lists anymore? He gets worse at memorization?
Also, I think people have an unfortunate misconception of rote memorization as merely dull repetition, instead of the employment of mnemonics to make information pertinent & legible
September 23, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Also, I think people have an unfortunate misconception of rote memorization as merely dull repetition, instead of the employment of mnemonics to make information pertinent & legible
I get the complaint from the perspective that unthinking memorization of unconnected facts is tedious and can produce knowledge w/o application.
However, having a grounding of knowledge to put into a framework is easier than the reverse ime. Ideally, you build both together, using memorization.
However, having a grounding of knowledge to put into a framework is easier than the reverse ime. Ideally, you build both together, using memorization.
September 23, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I get the complaint from the perspective that unthinking memorization of unconnected facts is tedious and can produce knowledge w/o application.
However, having a grounding of knowledge to put into a framework is easier than the reverse ime. Ideally, you build both together, using memorization.
However, having a grounding of knowledge to put into a framework is easier than the reverse ime. Ideally, you build both together, using memorization.
Extremely good break down on how GenAi doesn’t learn, it copies.
Good reporting work done here
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Good reporting work done here
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
AI’s Memorization Crisis
Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry.
www.theatlantic.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Extremely good break down on how GenAi doesn’t learn, it copies.
Good reporting work done here
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Good reporting work done here
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Slides for our ICML tutorial on Memorization and Generalization of Diffusion and Flow Matching Models are now available ! 🌀
memorization-generalization.github.io
@quentinbertrand.bsky.social
memorization-generalization.github.io
@quentinbertrand.bsky.social
ICML 2026 Tutorial - Generalization and Memorization in Flow Matching and Diffusion
memorization-generalization.github.io
July 7, 2026 at 6:20 AM
Slides for our ICML tutorial on Memorization and Generalization of Diffusion and Flow Matching Models are now available ! 🌀
memorization-generalization.github.io
@quentinbertrand.bsky.social
memorization-generalization.github.io
@quentinbertrand.bsky.social
Our work on how (and how not) to measure memorization is here: arxiv.org/abs/2607.12649
Extractable Memorization From First Principles
Recent work on extractable memorization in LLMs suffers from two contrasting validity problems. Some studies overstate extraction, e.g., relying on sequences too short to distinguish memorization from...
arxiv.org
September 26, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Our work on how (and how not) to measure memorization is here: arxiv.org/abs/2607.12649
Christian conservatives:
Memorization: A
Reading comprehension: F
Memorization: A
Reading comprehension: F
July 1, 2026 at 1:33 AM
Christian conservatives:
Memorization: A
Reading comprehension: F
Memorization: A
Reading comprehension: F