
While I could not fully agree with the proposed
irony of the comment, I was struck by the fact that I spent a lot of time
memorizing things with equally dubious utilitarian application. The three I most remember, possibly because
they were the hardest were:
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The Periodic Table |
·
The Periodic Table
·
The Krebs Cycle and
·
The components of the Trigeminal nerve
Interestingly, I was exposed to all of these at
different times in my education, and for different reasons. Surprisingly, none of them were taught to me
by the nus of the BVM, who were masters of teaching rote. I still can recite from sixth grade the
copulative verbs, which are descriptive rather than action verbs. Among which are: appear, become, continue,
feel, grow, look remain, seem, shine, sound and taste.
My exposure to the Periodic Table came in high
school, presumably to assist me in getting my arms around Chemistry. The table of elements, which is generally
credited to Dmitri Mendeleev, who came up with the system shortly after our
Civil War. My high school challenge was
not to remember how many protons, or even neutrons the 88 then-known elements
had, as to get a sense for their relationships with others in their group;
thereby comprehending what properties they might have as well as what
applications could be made from those properties. We learned to group the heavy metals, the
gases and the just-getting-interesting elemental isotopes.
![]() |
Krebs Cycle |
Learning the Krebs Cycle, I owe to my one year at
the all-boy Christian Brother’s School in Winona, Minnesota, where my Uncle was
the Bishop. My banishment to a place known then by only Garrison Keillor and
the occupants of what would become Lake Wobegone, came as the result of two
years of Fraternity living at the University of Iowa, which distressed my
father who, at the time was my private Student Loan.
Brother I. Leo was my resident dorm monitor and saw
fit to make me learn by heart all the mysteries of the Rosary, as well as the
anatomy of some damn frog and, of course, the Krebs Cycle. While this knowledge did in fact assist my
entry into Dental School after one year, during which my grade average jumped
more than a full point, I have found decreasing use or value as I have grown older.
![]() |
Trigeminal Nerve |
I did in fact find uses for knowledge of the Krebs Cycle
as I made my way through the first two years of Marquette Dental School’s
curriculum. Today I would be hard pressed to describe, as the poster above
suggests, how I may find need for it recently or in the future.
Which brings us to the granddaddy of them all: the
components of the Trigeminal Nerve.
While I would be the first to admit that a practicing
dentist, particularly one who is administering local anesthesia should have a
general idea of how the injections might affect the person he or she is
injecting, and while I would similarly admit that a knowledge of the pathways
the nerve takes might have value in diagnosing general medical conditions, I
would be less inclined to think I need to fill my gray cells with this
abundance of knowledge, particularly in this day and age where I have Google
instruments at my beck and call.
Knowledge of the Fifth Cranial Nerve was hammered
into my head at Marquette and again seven years later when the Navy sent me to
the Naval Post-Graduate School at Bethesda. During that sabbatical year from
combat, I joined some 30 other promising Naval Dental Officers, one of whom
showed up for the Final Exam with his face painted the same colors as the
Nerve’s Pathways.

Seemingly, education has advanced past the
learning-by-rote phase. Technology,
particularly computer technology has moved us into e-learning and more importantly
e-assessment. The last few tests I have taken now require that the student
demonstrate understanding of the lesson before completing or even moving
forward in the lesson. Memorizing 90% of
the Periodic Table is not the goal.
Understanding the concept is. My
third-grade grandson can solve the math problem any way he wishes if he can
demonstrate the method he used to reach his correct answer.
And I think that is just fine! He doesn’t even need to show me the page he
found the Periodic Table, the Krebs Cycle, or the pathway of the Trigeminal
nerve.
In my next Post I’ll catch you up on the battle
between mobile technology and Land Lines. Please stop on by.
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