Why Recall, When You Can Retrieve?

I don’t remember anything because I can recall (almost) everything.

Photo by Laura Tancredi

Dear Reader,

Kindly stay for AT LEAST 30 SECONDS. Don’t kill the writers’ reader ratio.

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No, it wasn’t a faux pas.

You’re correct.

Meriam Webster dictionary defines recall as, “to call back”, “to bring back to mind”, or “to remind one of”.

We can always leave the finesse to the English Language majors. But, “Recall” and “retrieve” mean the same thing.

What were things like in the past?

“Never memorize what you can look up in books” is a quote often attributed to Albert Einstein. As reported, when the most famous physicist was asked the speed of sound, he said, “I do not carry such information in my mind since it is readily available in books.“

Similarly, Kathy Widenhouse touched on this in her excellent article.

Recall memory — the ability to spontaneously call information up in your mind — has become less necessary. When readers forget what you write, they’re not inconvenienced by a trip to the library. Instead, a quick internet search can help…