This is a common misconception not supported by scientific evidence.
What experimental psychology and neuroscience research has found is that the better people memorize topics, the better they understand and reason about them.
Edit: Of course, you can memorize things without any effort to understand. But if you are making these efforts, having an efficient and effective memorization technique can help a LOT.
What experimental psychology and neuroscience research has found is that the better people memorize topics, the better they understand and reason about them.
For those interested, this book has the best compilation I've seen of such research: https://www.amazon.com/Memory-Alan-Baddeley/dp/1138326097
Edit: Of course, you can memorize things without any effort to understand. But if you are making these efforts, having an efficient and effective memorization technique can help a LOT.