Craig <[email protected]> wrote:
> . . . it doesn't surprise me > that someone with a poor memory can also be an excellent engineer. The > two traits go together. With me, for instance, it's because I have a > hard time remembering, that I have become an excellent problem solver. > When I look at code that I've written, just a few months earlier; it's > like looking at new code which I've never seen before. I then have to > reconstruct the solutions to the problems -- again -- from scratch. That is an interesting observation. I have the same kind of mind. I too see programs afresh the next day. That is helpful for jobs that require you to do the same thing over and over, year after year, such as teaching 5th grade. I imagine you would be bored to tears doing that if you could not find the same old historylesson interesting the 10th time around. I suppose Yul Brynner must have had this quality since he was able to perform "The King And I" on stage 4,625 (!) times. I guess that is a good thing. I think that the ability to forget is essential to many formsof creativity. There are people who do not forget things. They have prodigious memories and they can remember details from years or decades ago. If this ability gave us an evolutionary advantage everyone would have it. Since most of us tend to forget things I assume that promotes survival in natural circumstances. - Jed
