# Are there any non-academic fields that you can succeed in with memorization? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305 "2013-11-07T03:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305/21 "2013-11-07T19:42:11Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > One job in which memorisation is particularly important is taxi driver. There have been studies about [the brains of London cab drivers](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/12/08/acquiring-the-knowledge-changes-the-brains-of-london-cab-drivers/), as they have to memorise a ridiculous amount of information to get a license. There is no deep understanding needed, though. Drivers have to know how the city streets are laid out, but issues of urban planning are largely irrelevant to their day-to-day job. Well yes, but memorization of the map on London is far from the only skill required to be a taxi driver, even there. It is quite important to be a good driver, for one thing! As I said before, lots, probably most, fields of endeavor call for a certain amount of memorization, but few if any rely entirely or even mainly upon it, and that is what the OP is asking about. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305/22 "2013-11-08T03:52:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Amazingly, according to your cite, no one asked him about the 39 steps. Nor did they ask him what causes pip in poultry. Am I right, Sir? ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305/23 "2013-11-08T06:40:16Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Well yes, but memorization of the map on London is far from the only skill required to be a taxi driver, even there. It is quite important to be a good driver, for one thing! Yes, but I would say that memorisation is the defining skill. Other jobs require you to be a good driver, but don’t necessarily ask for extraordinary memory skills. I thought the London cab drivers were interesting because the memorisation is an explicit requirement for the job, and it appears to be the most difficult by far. The harbour pilots mentioned by **sailor** seem to be in the same boat. Their rote knowledge is what sets them apart from other pilots. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305/24 "2013-11-08T09:17:23Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > Yes, but I would say that memorisation is the defining skill. Other jobs require you to be a good driver, but don’t necessarily ask for extraordinary memory skills. I thought the London cab drivers were interesting because the memorisation is an explicit requirement for the job, and it appears to be the most difficult by far. The harbour pilots mentioned by **sailor** seem to be in the same boat. Their rote knowledge is what sets them apart from other pilots. I’ll allow the taxi driver example. It’s looking toward the intent of my OP rather than trying to argue exact phraseology. _I’m looking for endeavors where “get good at memorization” or “memorize a metric crapton of factoids” puts you on the road to success in a real and meaningful way and the rest is more or less fluff, easy stuff, or is otherwise not the main focus_. True, you have to be able to drive to be a taxi driver, but then driving is a skill that large numbers of common people master, as opposed to, say, the practice of medicine where you can’t pick it up from your parents in a parking lot and have no hope of just showing up and trying to get a license. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305/25 "2013-11-08T13:36:03Z")
Auto parts interpreter ? Picker at the warehouse. At least when they say “need experience” they are hoping you are reasonably learned of the basics of the codes for common parts across the range eg filters,belts and door handle part, and most parts for the most common models. Train drivers aren’t doing much else than reading and remembering the track conditions. 95 here, 50 there, wait for 2 minutes, . There is very little judgement and mostly doing what is told … So remembering what the rules are is the main complication above "this is stop and this is go’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-non-academic-fields-that-you-can-succeed-in-with-memorization/673305.md?page=1)