My American school systems failed to teach me how to be competent. Rather than fostering a deep understanding and appreciation for knowledge, I was trained to be a sponge. I was expected to absorb all six subjects and squeeze out all that I remembered onto anxiety-inducing standard tests, then watch as it swayed my future around. But is intelligence really determined by these tests? Is my worth as a student indicated by the number of correct black circles on the scantron? Is it accurate to be measured and labeled by the letters and numbers recorded on my report cards? Jorge Luis Borges’ Funes the Memorious has prompted me to confront these questions head-on. In this story, Funes possesses an extraordinary memory but lacks the broader cognitive skills similar to the education I experienced. As I reflect on my own experiences, Funes as a character and his flaws are identical to the flaws of my education. Intelligence cannot be measured by the quantity of information we hold, but I’ve realized that it’s reflected by the way we can use what we know for meaningful or applicable purposes.
In high school, I dreaded the approach of May. Every year, it was the month dedicated to one of the most common forms of standardized testing, College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) exams. In hindsight, they were used to assess my mastery of “college-level material” and “boost” my education by allowing me to earn college credit, but this pressure was nothing more than harmful. For many of us, my success as a student and my future weighed heavily on whether or not I could excel on these exams. There was a separating hierarchy between students who were “expected to do great things” because they earned a 5 on their never to be recalled again AP exams to the students who could only manage a 2. Does that number reflect the amount of hours they worked to prepare? I’ve spent days with my peers, drowned in flashcards to prioritize memorization. I recall the all-nighters that went against my mandatory 8 hours for my growing body to practice how to answer multiple choice questions. I threw away all methods of critical thinking and laughed at the idea of deep comprehension to leave room for knowing the minute, irrelevant facts I was expected to know like the back of my hand. And this was the intellect I was taught to strive for.
In Jorge Luis Borges’ Funes the Memorious, intelligence is depicted in a manner that challenges conventional notions and norms, particularly the idea that intelligence is synonymous with having a good memory. The protagonist, Ireneo Funes, possesses an extraordinary memory characterized by the ability to remember every detail of his experiences with unparalleled precision. The story introduced, “In fact, Funes remembered not only every leaf of every tree of every wood, but also every one of the times he had perceived or imagined it. He decided to reduce each of his past days to some seventy thousand memories, which would then be defined by means of ciphers” (Borges 153).
However, Funes’ ability highlights the limitations of memory-centric intelligence. Despite his ability to recall information, Funes struggles with comprehension, abstraction, and synthesis. The narrator claims,
“With no effort, he had learned English, French, Portuguese and Latin. I suspect, however, that he was not very capable of thought. To think is to forget differences, generalize, make abstractions” (Borges 154).
Borges presents a compelling contrast to the intelligence defined by American school systems, particularly in the emphasis on memorization versus comprehension or analysis. While American education often prioritizes the ability to memorize and regurgitate information, exemplified by standardized testing, Funes challenges this narrow conception of intelligence. His extraordinary memory comes at the expense of broader cognitive skills such as comprehension, abstraction, and analysis. Unlike the traditional model of intelligence, which equates memory with intellectual prowess, Funes’ inability to generalize or abstract from his memories underscores the limitations of mere recall. Funes is constantly overwhelmed by an excessive amount of details, rendering him unable to see patterns, make connections, or derive meaningful concepts from his experiences. This limitation underscores the inadequacy of a memory-centric view of intelligence and highlights the importance of higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, and critical thinking, which were underemphasized in my traditional educational models. Overall, this story and this message resonated with me because I saw myself in Funes. As a result of all the qualities I naively formed as a student, I’m unsure in my ability to call myself intelligent because as the narrator suggested, “To think is to forget differences, generalize, make abstractions,” and I struggle to do any of those naturally.
In reflecting on Funes the Memorious, I felt frustrated with the hypocrisy and misguidance. How can our schools expect us to be a new generation of leaders without giving us the proper skills to do so? Our future is not reliant on our ability to recall information from memory, but rather on our ability to apply the skills we’ve learned to institute real change against the overwhelming amount of issues dropped onto our shoulders to burden. This void in my education leaves me standing at the face of potential with no bridge to cross, wanting to move forward but having to develop critical thinking, creativity, and resilience from limited guidance. I wish I had a better education, one that empowers me to not just dream, but to act, to innovate, and to lead with empathy and true intelligence. I deserved more than a recitation of facts; I deserved an education that ignites passion and prepares me to shape a better tomorrow.
WORKS CITED
Borges, Jorge Luis. FUNES THE MEMORIOUS. Accessed May 2024.
SWC Review of Books 
Leave a comment