The value of quantity

Often the perception is that it is better to focus on quality. When it comes to the classic quality vs quantity debate, regardless of for what the answer is, the objective is always to produce higher quality.

But perhaps it is not as clear cut as it seems.

I watched this video about a polyglot’s methodology earlier which reminded me of a principle that is most important in language acquisition: exposure. A lot of it. The brain struggles to memorise or remember, but it easily sees patterns. That is also the sort of information it remembers most easily. Patterns, however, are best developed with a lot of data and huge quantities of data is at the same time what helps something to be more easily retained. Or makes it more likely to be retained. Whichever it is, quantity should be of higher priority because in some cases it is the only way to ensure any sort of output at all.