> It's also completely counterproductive. If you want to make it as
> hard as possible to learn and remember, just make sure the mind
> never has time to rest. Nothing ever has a chance to go into long-
> term memory. A few days later; it's gone, poof!
>
> I experienced this when I was an in intensive Latin workshop at
> U.C.B: class was 9-5; and there was another four hours of homework
> (at least). Starting from nothing, you learned Latin grammar in
> four weeks. The Monday after the grammar final, you'd come in and
> start reading Virgil.
>
> I was working graveyard shift as a security guard so I could work/
> study. I'd go to workshop 9-5, then go home and sleep; then work
> 11- 7. All through the night, I would study vocabulary/grammar or,
> later, translate hundreds of lines of verse. Usually my study was
> interrupted every hour or so by some "guard" duty. But one night, I > got
to study with no interruptions all night long. I was jazzed
> cause I thought I would do really well on the test the next day --
> we had a quiz every day. I went in, took the test, and got a D.
> Usually, I got A's. Not only that, I had no idea I had done so
> badly. Problem? NOTHING had gone into long term memory -- there had
> been no breaks of whatever kind the previous night.
>
> The stupid mind always tells you that more is better. Often wrong.
>
> Joanna
^^^^^^
CB; My father used to say , "Study long; study wrong."
On the other hand, all nighters in college could be some real fun adventures, seeking an "ah ha !" experience. It wasn't so much remembering better, but maybe making some new connections between ideas, sort of a brain storming session.