Ruminations on Regulations and Responsibilities

Argh. My head hurts.

There are (probably) two kinds of people in this world: those who are good at memorizing facts; and those who are good at understanding facts. The question is: which is the faster method of learning? I think it's the former...

I have this friend who is blessed with the ability to memorize facts effortlessly. We go to a lecture on Neural Computing then come back with wads of notes. I spend hours shifting through them trying to understand what it is I'm reading before I can actually commit anything to memory. He does the opposite, and it works great for him. He may not understand at first, but repeated use of his memorized facts across various contexts helps reinforce his knowledge. I'm envious.

Anyway, I've moved from a scientific world into the financial world. And boy, do I need memory skills. I mean, the amount of regulatory facts one has to memorize, who is supposed to do what, where and when... who is not supposed to do whatever... I imagine lawyers must have it worse...

And you know what makes me sweat? This is only "pre-reading material" to help me "familiarize" myself with the concepts I will be taught once September rolls by... Oh boy. I miss computer science.