“Every time I learn the name of a student, I forget the name of a fish.” - Ichthyologist David Starr Jordan
I’ve been fretting about memory. A lot. I’ve spent the last (and only) 30 years of my life in school. I’ve taken American History in junior high. I’ve taken calculus in high school. I’ve majored in Biology. I’ve majored in Philosophy. The other day, a friend asked me “who’s the philosopher that thought the intellectuals should rule everyone?” I answered, “you mean Aristotle’s philosopher-king notion?” It’s not Aristotle. It’s Plato. I got this wrong despite the fact that I studied ancient greek metaphysics almost exclusively for three years.
And so it goes with my knowledge of biology. I used to assistant teach college level biology classes. Today, I would probably get a C minus grade on one of the exams I used to proctor.
And here we are today, in law school. I’m a 2L. I had torts first semester of 1L year. Today, I would do worse than a C minus on a torts exam. By the way, in another year I’ll have to take a torts exam. It’s called the bar. So, this is a problem locally. But it’s also a problem globally.
If only I could remember half of what I’ve ever known.
I doubt I’ll ever know half of what I’ve ever known. But, the article linked above gives me a lot to think about. As law students, it’s worth a read.
