Rote Learning

Rote learning is a learning technique which avoids understanding of a subject and instead focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it.

Rote learning is widely used in the mastery of foundational knowledge. Examples include, phonics in reading, the periodic table in chemistry, multiplication tables in mathematics, anatomy in medicine, cases or statutes in law, basic formulas in any science, etc. Rote learning, by definition, eschews comprehension, however, and consequently, it is an ineffective tool in mastering any complex subject at an advanced level.

Rote learning certainly has its place in education and is a necessity to the learning process. Memorizing the multiplication table is a necessity in mathematics. Memorizing the element table is a necessity in chemistry. Memorizing scripture is a necessity in bible study. The problem is exposed when rote learning supersedes critical thinking.

When I taught computer diagnostics, repair and networking it was easy for my students to memorize basic facts, but then be totally lost in application. People are commonly divided into three groups. Some just don't get it no matter how many different ways you try and explain it to them. Others are good at memorizing facts but are lost at applying the facts to real life situations. The final group is good at memorizing the facts and applying them to real life situations.

Understanding how a system works is more important than the rote learning of the components of the system.  You don't have to know what a bus is to understand a faulty modem will prevent a computer from starting up. But it helps to know that when explaining the working system to others.

Education certainly has its place in society but it's not the all in all. I have known many preachers with PhDs that didn't grasp the simplest principals of the scripture. I've known scientist with PhDs that couldn't install a simple program on their computer. I have also known people with an 8th grade education that could rebuild an engine and high school students that were master carpenters. There is a great difference in rote learning versus learning how a system works.

This is the underlying situation of most of the arguments I have with the creationist and the evolutionist. Some just don't get it. Others are just rote learners without any understanding of what they are arguing. Only a few actually understand why they believe what they do and how things work.

A common argument I have had lately with evolutionist has been on the constant speed of light. Light and energy is the same thing. Energy does not move at a constant speed therefore light cannot move at a constant speed. Energy move fastest nearest its source and slower the further it gets from the source. Energy also disperses rapidly in an open system.

If you pay attention to solar radiation, its energy is dispersed in waves. The closer you are to the sun the shorter the waves are. The further away from the sun you get, the longer the waves are. Why does happen? The closer you are to the energy source the faster the particles collide together yielding there energy to other particles. Think of it like billiards. You hit the cue ball transferring energy from the stick to the ball. The cue ball then hits the rack transferring its energy to the racked balls. The balls are then dispersed rapidly around the table. As the balls collide with each other and the rails of the table, the balls yield up their energy and begin to slow down until they all stop. That's how energy works.

Energy is carried by particles that collide like the billiards do, forming waves as the energy is dispersed among the particles, just like a wave in a pool when a stone is dropped into it. The greater the energy of the particle the greater it's speed and collision with other particles and the shorter the wave. As the particles collide they become weaker and slow down forming longer waves. That's why a gamma wave field is shortest and strongest but the radio wave field is the longest and weakest. The wave field shows the distribution of this energy as it spreads out.

Since energy and light are the same thing, light must behave the same way it's carrier does, which is energy. Since energy does not move at a constant speed neither can light.

Now if you look at the wave analogy you will see how energy is dispersed over time and distance. Energy, depending on its push, has a limited distance that it can travel within a limited time frame. Both distance and time are relative to each other.

An explosion is a good example here. Depending on the strength of the explosion the particles will be dispersed or scattered rapidly like a wave. The particles will only go so far so fast, slowing down until all particles stop. In this explosion you will see a flash of light called a light burst that only last a second. The speed of this burst is relative to the rapid dispersement of the particles. Energy and light function in the same way.

So the speed of light is not constant. The light from an exploding star in the Andromeda Galaxy would never reach earth. The light from a start or galaxy would never reach earth. There is another reason why this is so besides the way energy is dispersed. If the light from other stars and galaxies are solar radiation, it would be absorbed by the solar radiation field of our sun and we would never see it.  This is survival of the fittest. If this light from stars and galaxies are reflected light it would be absorbed by the reflected light of our moon.

So how do we see the light from stars and galaxies in the night sky? Because they are in our field of vision. For those who think that light must enter in through the retina in order to see the object, think again. If that were so you wouldn't see anything but a blur because of the competition of light.  

So do you see the difference from learning rote facts versus understanding how a system works? Scientists do not give the correct answers to everything. Preachers do not give the correct answer to everything.  Education is not proof of understanding nor truth.