Britney Spears - MTV Video Music Awards - Music - Celebrities - New York Times
"OOPS! Britney Spears forgot the words she meant to lip-sync at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. With this momentary brain malfunction, she joined the absent-minded ranks of “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, who dropped a line from her medley of “Hound Dog/All Shook Up” in last year’s finals, and Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, who plumb forgot what she was saying in a pageant interview that became a YouTube sensation...
WHAT’S MY LINE Memorization and recitation are old hat. Forgetful stars like Britney Spears, left, are symbols of our times...
Performance anxiety, heavy drinking and even hair extensions have been variously blamed for these lapses. But why blame the victims? They are just products of a culture that does not enforce the development of memory skills."
Jenny Lyn Bader
I was a poor memorizer at school. So, it's somewhat ironic that some of my strongest memories are of me forgetting the poem or my times table that I was supposed to have practiced.
I can still remember being sent to the cloakroom to memorize my times table (i think it was only my 5 times table) and feeling quite distressed. But, when I did feel able to return and managed to recite it all, I also felt achievement.
I think I have always found it easier to remember stories and concepts that the odd snippet or joke. I've never been great with the detail, and had to work at it very hard to make sure I passed exams.
So, its strange that I studied Homer so closely and the Greek culture of education. Meanwhile, contemporary scientists have discovered that memorization exercises can stave off dementia.
Google, wikipedia, our blogs and youtube make it so much easier for us to find or show what we forget rather than have to carry it around in our brains, too busy multi-tasking with all the vital activities of everyday life (perhaps...).
I must say that I have great respect for the Stephen Fry's of the world, and wish I could remember a few more things, to sound off that impressive quotation or brilliant joke. That has never been me.
So, I am not sure I could every agree that memorizing poems is a good thing, even if it has medicinal benefits. However, I do believe that time for reflecting is important, and using that time to think deeply. We have fantastic tools at our disposal now, and it would be a real shame if all this access limited our cultural development rather than accelerated it for all.
"OOPS! Britney Spears forgot the words she meant to lip-sync at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. With this momentary brain malfunction, she joined the absent-minded ranks of “American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, who dropped a line from her medley of “Hound Dog/All Shook Up” in last year’s finals, and Miss Teen South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton, who plumb forgot what she was saying in a pageant interview that became a YouTube sensation...
WHAT’S MY LINE Memorization and recitation are old hat. Forgetful stars like Britney Spears, left, are symbols of our times...
Performance anxiety, heavy drinking and even hair extensions have been variously blamed for these lapses. But why blame the victims? They are just products of a culture that does not enforce the development of memory skills."
Jenny Lyn Bader
I was a poor memorizer at school. So, it's somewhat ironic that some of my strongest memories are of me forgetting the poem or my times table that I was supposed to have practiced.
I can still remember being sent to the cloakroom to memorize my times table (i think it was only my 5 times table) and feeling quite distressed. But, when I did feel able to return and managed to recite it all, I also felt achievement.
I think I have always found it easier to remember stories and concepts that the odd snippet or joke. I've never been great with the detail, and had to work at it very hard to make sure I passed exams.
So, its strange that I studied Homer so closely and the Greek culture of education. Meanwhile, contemporary scientists have discovered that memorization exercises can stave off dementia.
Google, wikipedia, our blogs and youtube make it so much easier for us to find or show what we forget rather than have to carry it around in our brains, too busy multi-tasking with all the vital activities of everyday life (perhaps...).
I must say that I have great respect for the Stephen Fry's of the world, and wish I could remember a few more things, to sound off that impressive quotation or brilliant joke. That has never been me.
So, I am not sure I could every agree that memorizing poems is a good thing, even if it has medicinal benefits. However, I do believe that time for reflecting is important, and using that time to think deeply. We have fantastic tools at our disposal now, and it would be a real shame if all this access limited our cultural development rather than accelerated it for all.
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