Neil deGrasse Tyson on learning:
G: And so, with Pluto gone, what is your new preferred mnemonic device for the planets?
NDT: I don’t do mnemonic devices.
G: Because you know the planets already?
NDT: No, because I think it is a pointless exercise containing no scientific value at all, or pedagogical value.
G: Because the kids should just learn the names of the planets?
NDT: Because it’s just memorizing names rather than understanding what’s going on in the solar system. And I feel strongly about that, and whole swaths of the book are given to this discussion.
G: How would you tell people to remember the names of the planets?
NDT: I wouldn’t. I say it doesn’t matter. As long as you know that there are some big giant ones out there and you can cite a couple of them, Jupiter and Saturn, whatever. But so many of the things have names. There are 10,000 asteroids that have names. Nobody’s trying to remember those.