Encoding · Part 2

The PACER framework for remembering what you read. Reading has a consumption stage and a neglected digestion stage — and five types of information, each digested differently.

▶ Watch this part (1:34:52)

Key ideas

▸Remembering everything is the wrong goal — Kim Peek had perfect recall but struggled to reason. Higher-order learning matters more.
▸Reading has two stages that must stay balanced: consumption and digestion. Digestion is where encoding happens — and it's the one everyone skips.
▸Up to 90% of what you consume can be forgotten. What stays in matters more than what goes in.
▸Don't waste consumption time memorising/re-reading — it steals time from digesting the foundational P, A and C types.

PACER — sort what you read

FRAMEWORK

PACER

P · Proceduralhow to execute something → practise it (apply ASAP)
A · Analogousrelates to something you know → critique the analogy
C · Conceptualthe what — facts, theories, relationships → map it
E · Evidencefacts/stats/cases that make concepts concrete → store & rehearse
R · Referencelook-it-up detail → store & rehearse (flashcards / Anki)

Do this

While reading, label each piece of info by its PACER category.
Procedural → practise it as early as possible (or move on if you can't).
Analogous → critique the analogy: where's it similar, different, where does it break.
Conceptual → grow a non-linear map as you read.
Evidence / Reference → store immediately (second brain or flashcards) and rehearse later.

In his words

“trying to remember everything we read should not be the goal in the first place”

“what goes into your brain is less important than what stays in your brain”