I got bored halfway through the article. Very unfocused and there seems to be no point to it. Here is what you need to know - working memory is the ability to hold things in short term memory. Most people can hold 7 distinct pieces. What's important is that these pieces are not scalar, these can be "reference types". For example 3.14 would be 1 piece of information called "Pi" and other defined concepts are just "1 piece".
Also, not all pieces are the same - 7 numbers are easier to memorize than 7 colors for most people for example.
Working memory is the fluid intelligence part intelligence covered on IQ test, which covers 2 parts: fluid intelligence(working memory) and crystallized intelligence (stuff you memorized). Unlike what the article states, no one has found a proven way to improve working memory in a general sense in adulthood. This would be the panacea if someone did.
edit: I did get through the end of the article after all and at the end of the day it really does say nothing at all. The author just tried to tie a bunch of old concepts together.
> no one has found a proven way to improve working memory in a general sense in adulthood
I was under the impression that dual n-back training was a way to achieve this, although https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-back describes it as somewhere between unproven and small impact. It's a pity that it hasn't been studied more extensively; as you note, if we had a reliable way of increasing general working memory it would have a significant impact.
In short, my understanding is that we can't improve it, but that could be very much due to the lack of actual dedicated research. If we could, it would essentially be a super power.
There are people who can't memorize their authenticator codes in one piece, let alone focus when someone is describing a method signature at work. This would be a big quality-of-life change for those people. This also ties in with following conversations and tying words together well, which most people don't think about.
I think there is just not enough research on DNB and eye exercises. For example, doing a one-arm pull-up sounds absolutely insane to most people, yet it's possible. We only know it's possible because people train in gymnastics their entire lives with coaches focusing on it. Afaik, no one is doing the same for DNB.
This sounds a lot like doing LZ77 compression in your head. :P
Re the earlier parent's:
> Also, not all pieces are the same - 7 numbers are easier to memorize than 7 colors for most people for example.
That's because you can turn a sequence of numbers into a sequence of compound numbers. In NANPA, the phone company has taught many of us to turn a 10 digit number into an four parts: the three digit area code, the three digit exchange prefix, and two two-digit halves of the subscriber number.
Ex: Jenny's phone number, +12128675309, becomes area code 212 (New York), exchange eight-six-seven (UNion 7?), five-three, oh-nine. Sometimes, as in the case of Jenny, it makes more sense rhythmically to read out the individual components of the last four digits without grouping them.
Also, not all pieces are the same - 7 numbers are easier to memorize than 7 colors for most people for example.
Working memory is the fluid intelligence part intelligence covered on IQ test, which covers 2 parts: fluid intelligence(working memory) and crystallized intelligence (stuff you memorized). Unlike what the article states, no one has found a proven way to improve working memory in a general sense in adulthood. This would be the panacea if someone did.
edit: I did get through the end of the article after all and at the end of the day it really does say nothing at all. The author just tried to tie a bunch of old concepts together.