- In a sense, this asks the question of what exactly is the difference between learning through reasoning vs memorization. I’m guessing the operative difference here is that the memorizer learns that x = y, whereas the reasoner also understands why x = y, and thus has some greater context and connection to the world outside of x = y. In that sense, I don’t think it’s elitism, you should pick reasoner over memorizer pretty much every time, simply because it’s more knowledge. Now, maybe the memorizer knows a lot more variations of x = y than the reasoner, who spent time learning the why. But in most subject areas, going deeper into foundational understanding is going to be more important than gaining memorized breadth. Obvious in arithmetic, maybe slightly less so in history, but still pretty clear that understanding the reasons for the civil war are more important than remembering the dates of all the battles, for example.