Chapter 3: Knowledge in the Head and in the World
The Design of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman
Summary: Throughout the chapter, Norman makes the distinction between the knowledge we keep in out minds against the knowledge we keep in objects, such as notes, calendars, computers, etc. Norman opens up the chapter by making the note that many expert typists cannot spell out the order in which the letters are ordered in a keyboard, or how people that "memorize" poems do not really memorize line by line, but they have the ability to recite such poems thanks to constrains found in the lyrics. These are just examples of activities that we can perform, even though we do not have the detailed knowledge to reproduce the relating activity. According to Norman, the knowledge we keep in easier to retrieve than that we keep in the head; it is not necessary to learn what we keep in the world, but it is necessary to learn in to keep in the head and keeping knowledge in the head may be more efficient to use than that of the world, depending on the environment.
Discussion: I agree with the idea that Norman introduces, if we have a strong interest or connection with a certain piece of information it is easier to keep it in our head and not to forget it. In my own example, some times I can remember conversation I had with people many years ago, but it is only because in one way or another they were significant and had an impact in my life.
As to the information we keep in the world, I think it can be most related to activities that we ought to do, maybe as an obligation or an assignment. In today's world there are many organizational tools that individuals can use. However, there is always improvements that we can work on in order to enhance such tools, maybe in the area of signaling the reminder.
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