.arunim.fyiI won’t ever write a better overview of spaced repetition than Michael Nielsen so if you’re not already familiar with spaced repetition or Anki, I highly recommend reading his essay. Andy Matuschak and Gwern Branwen have great writing on this, and great writing in general.
TL;DR for you lazy folk, spaced repetition systems like Anki that correctly tell you when to review atomic facts based on your previous study sessions can dramatically improve learning efficiency and quality.
Perfect for me, I thought, as I’ve been subject to some sadness after reflecting upon the speed with which I forget content I’ve learned.
I1, however, have an even worse failing when it comes to using Anki: I simply can not bring myself to create cards. I can however, dump dozens of hours into creating an app that does it for me! If you similarly want to remember things you read, feel free to join: https://trysophos.github.io
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Indeed, I believe the act of constructing the cards actually helps with memory.
Yeah, yeah, Michael Nielsen probably doesn’t entirely endorse this alternative, and neither does any hardcore Anki user, but I’d wager they’d all recommend this far above not using spaced repetition at all.
I genuinely think this has solved the whole factual recall thing (for me). And maybe, just maybe, this makes the sheer amount of information available to learn just a little less depressing and more exciting, knowing that I won’t forget it so soon.
Footnotes
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And at least a few others who I’ve talked to, for what it’s worth. ↩