Memory as a Universal Thinking Machine

Abstract

The present article is designed to reassess the intrinsic values of using memory in the process of language acquisition and language learning, with a focus on the four skills – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – as the building blocks in achieving the best communication goals. According to researchers like Mary Carruthers, Janine Rider, or Lambert Schenkel, there are people who possess a retentive memory, and others who excel in the power of memory. One way or another, memory gives us the ability that generates knowledge, and, by the same token, enables us to speak, read, and write effectively and logically. The sustaining pillars of this monumental edifice are, as touted by medieval thinkers, the concept of memory as a universal thinking machine, as well as (according to more recent researchers) the power of working memory, which can work wonders when we know how to hold and manipulate knowledge. The study of memory from a historical perspective and reflected in world literature can give us an exhaustive frame of reference and the benefits that result in turning accumulated knowledge into accumulated learning.