Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-l] iPod music compression



I just had a random thought as I was getting ready to help students
review for their next test: loading info to your brain is a little like
loading songs to an iPod!

If you simply try to memorize every bit (literally!) of information in
raw, uncompressed form, you will end up with very little actually
information. Only a few uncompressed songs will fit on an iPod!

On the other hand, compression looks for patterns in the data so that
less memory is required to reproduce the same end result. If the
students invest a bit of time to learn the patterns - the theories,
models, equations - then they can "compress" other raw information so
that their brains will hold much more useful information overall!

Is this a silly analogy, or is there enough truth that it might help
students think about how to study & learn?


Tim F