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Sorry for the non-answer answer I'm about to give, but I don't really think you should have to keep these things in memory. At some point it becomes a waste of

Sorry for the non-answer answer I'm about to give, but I don't really think you should have to keep these things in memory. At some point it becomes a waste of memory space (at least that's how I experience it). There ARE some topics I want to remember, and those I try to put in writing. Both because it helps them stick in my mind for longer and because then I have a reference to go back to if I need a refresher. I use my own blog quite a bit to remember ways to do things that I may have figured out earlier and then forgotten. But in terms of keeping things completely in memory: I have grown to think that, for a healthy mind, the things worth remembering are the things we remember. It's _good_ to remember things you're regularly using. If you're not regularly using them, you may as well forget the details and refresh your memory later if needed. Of course the major caveat being that this is within reasonable limits and not a symptom of an illness or actual serious memory loss. It is a balance, and losing my memory in general is one of my worst fears. I guess it is a matter of deciding if these topics are beginning to evaporate sooner than you're comfortable with. Do they disappear after a day? A week? A year? If I start forgetting knowledge too quickly for my standards, that's when I'll get worried. It's just a matter of deciding what "too quickly" is for us.

shrimp_emoji 4y ago
Outside of pathology, the mechanism of forgetting seems pretty important: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia >Hyperthymesia, or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM), is a condition that leads people to be able to remember an abnormally large number of their life experiences in vivid detail. >Hyperthymestic abilities can have a detrimental effect. The constant, irrepressible stream of memories has caused significant disruption to Price's life. She described her recollection as "non-stop, uncontrollable and totally exhausting" and as "a burden".[1] Price is prone to getting lost in remembering. This can make it difficult to attend to the present or future, as she is permanently living in the past. Others who have hyperthymesia do not display any of these traits, however.
- tedyoung 4y ago
  Bjork's research is all about forgetting under the Theory of Disuse (along with desirable difficulties, which is what helps us remember). See https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/research/ https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/research/ for more.
sidedishes 4y ago
I've beaten myself up many times in college for seemingly forgetting everything after classes finish. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to learn and retain better. I tried Anki a bit but would inevitably forget things as soon as I stopped too. Forgetting is frustrating, and a situation where I -know- that I knew something before but not anymore is doubly so. But.. ultimately I think I've arrived at this view as well. Your brain is not wired to remember things that you don't use. If you want to continue remembering, you have to continue engaging with the topic, and a lot of the advice in this thread is IMO just that (just, with a specific regimen / kind of engagement). It's completely natural to forget. In fact, I'd go further and suggest embracing the forgetting and relearning cycle. If you really need to revisit the topic, you can relearn it again, and it'll be faster than the first time. And maybe you'll forget another time -- that's OK too, you can pick it up again even faster. In the end it's the discipline of relearning (the particular topic, and in general!) that actually continuously hardens. IMO there are parallels between this mindset and SRS -- though without the shame when you forget or miss a day of practice.

shrimp_emoji 4y ago

Outside of pathology, the mechanism of forgetting seems pretty important: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymesia >Hyperthymesia, or highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM), is a condition that leads people to be able to remember an abnormally large number of their life experiences in vivid detail. >Hyperthymestic abilities can have a detrimental effect. The constant, irrepressible stream of memories has caused significant disruption to Price's life. She described her recollection as "non-stop, uncontrollable and totally exhausting" and as "a burden".[1] Price is prone to getting lost in remembering. This can make it difficult to attend to the present or future, as she is permanently living in the past. Others who have hyperthymesia do not display any of these traits, however.

tedyoung 4y ago
Bjork's research is all about forgetting under the Theory of Disuse (along with desirable difficulties, which is what helps us remember). See https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/research/ https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/research/ for more.

sidedishes 4y ago

I've beaten myself up many times in college for seemingly forgetting everything after classes finish. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how to learn and retain better. I tried Anki a bit but would inevitably forget things as soon as I stopped too. Forgetting is frustrating, and a situation where I -know- that I knew something before but not anymore is doubly so. But.. ultimately I think I've arrived at this view as well. Your brain is not wired to remember things that you don't use. If you want to continue remembering, you have to continue engaging with the topic, and a lot of the advice in this thread is IMO just that (just, with a specific regimen / kind of engagement). It's completely natural to forget. In fact, I'd go further and suggest embracing the forgetting and relearning cycle. If you really need to revisit the topic, you can relearn it again, and it'll be faster than the first time. And maybe you'll forget another time -- that's OK too, you can pick it up again even faster. In the end it's the discipline of relearning (the particular topic, and in general!) that actually continuously hardens. IMO there are parallels between this mindset and SRS -- though without the shame when you forget or miss a day of practice.