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> Are there downsides to this? Absolutely. Just to give an example, I was able to narrow down my personality dynamics to a set which predicted that memory-focu

> Are there downsides to this? Absolutely. Just to give an example, I was able to narrow down my personality dynamics to a set which predicted that memory-focused interests would be intriguing but risky. I measured the risk as I studied for upcoming test (US amateur radio license) and the subjective intrigue factor seemed to be the worst factor by far. It compounded risk early and often. As I saw early payoffs from spaced repetition and other techniques like Roman rooms, the intrigue convinced me to up the ante again and again. I had little experience with electronics or radio and nonetheless decided to study for all three license levels simultaneously. I ended up having to measure my success not by progress, but by frequency of extremely negative ahem, "ideations". IOW I would quit studies for the day/week when I wanted to end it all. I had the granularity figured down to how many minutes I likely had to study before I'd have to lose a day of all other productive work due to exhaustion. But the prize was so big that I couldn't just give up. And all of the memory techniques worked great. I wasn't able to find a hyper-objective model for this but the mixed models were good enough for me. In my case the most relevant was Jungian cognitive functions' Si-as-recall model, combined with several other perspectives from the personality dynamics world, including theories by John Beebe. If you are able to do some basic research and determine whether you are an intuitive personality, that would be where I'd start to draw a big warning line. Especially if you have strengths in conceptualization, contingency planning, imagination, reading science fiction, and so on. Not only are these strengths often found in recall-deficit personality groups, but moreso the more detailed the nature of the recall. In addition, recall perception blocks intuitive perception and vice versa. So by definition the expression of your gifts can become blocked, which logically means that you are blocking your ability to create positive outcomes and energy for yourself. It's interesting stuff but please be careful and mind the subjective factors. Especially if you have any thoughts like, "I learn some really interesting stuff, so if only I could retain what I learn..." (I'd never be caught blanked out in a conversation, losing a debate, etc.)

t_mann 4y ago
> Especially if you have any thoughts like, "I learn some really interesting stuff, so if only I could retain what I learn..." I'm not sure I follow, is that a risk factor or a positive indication in your opinion? My goal isn't to shine with this knowledge in conversations (apart from technical job interviews maybe).
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  There's a set of personality dynamics that works like this. Really common in tech: - My unspoken (if even consciously known) mission is to not be caught dead not-knowing things. - So I will always learn things. I keep buying books, I subscribe to learning-focused services, use my library card, etc. - However, I have this really damn embarrassing tendency to forget stuff, just at the wrong time! - I've already got the big picture down--that's boring, I could talk about the big picture all day (future, low detail) and I can generally see where things are going in the world. - So, I will work on my memory, bc that's interesting. (past, high detail, can be overlaid on the future for some pattern extrapolation even) To some, there's an additional performer-complication: "My memory will help me perform well, and a good performance is my unspoken mission in life." This could apply to debates, job interviews, who knows what. This loose chain of various factors would, in my mind, point at someone who is likely to overidealize the impact of memory improvements in their life. It also points at someone who should work on subjective knowledge organization before getting into any memory improvements. They should have an external system which for all practical purposes supports the most likely or common holes in their memory. This will also give them designer-builder energy that they usually also crave, it will solve memory problems in the big picture (using a perceptive view-gift of the future to solve a weakness). So it's like a loose subjective risk factor based on some alignment or non-alignments with those things. Otherwise, some amount of memory work is really handy. I mean you'll never forget a thing you really want to remember, ever again. It's a muscle that requires conscious work, but still...I mean I can remember grocery lists from over 30 years ago, critical film theorists from 20 years ago, and how could I ever forget seeing my favorite pair of lazy-day flip-flops looking up at me from within a circuit diagram? That kind of thing.
  - t_mann 4y ago
    Yeah, the whole 'life-hack' mindset can be quite toxic. But frankly, my other procrastination habits (mostly browsing comment sites like HN) aren't much better (actually quite bad [0]), so if this one comes with a timer and a daily limit it may actually help reduce screen time. Funny enough, the very first thing I 'ankified' just before writing the post was something I picked up very recently as an alternative to browsing the phone on my commute, solving a Rubik's cube. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-your-phone-may-help-you-live-longer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-yo...

t_mann 4y ago

> Especially if you have any thoughts like, "I learn some really interesting stuff, so if only I could retain what I learn..." I'm not sure I follow, is that a risk factor or a positive indication in your opinion? My goal isn't to shine with this knowledge in conversations (apart from technical job interviews maybe).

themodelplumber 4y ago
There's a set of personality dynamics that works like this. Really common in tech: - My unspoken (if even consciously known) mission is to not be caught dead not-knowing things. - So I will always learn things. I keep buying books, I subscribe to learning-focused services, use my library card, etc. - However, I have this really damn embarrassing tendency to forget stuff, just at the wrong time! - I've already got the big picture down--that's boring, I could talk about the big picture all day (future, low detail) and I can generally see where things are going in the world. - So, I will work on my memory, bc that's interesting. (past, high detail, can be overlaid on the future for some pattern extrapolation even) To some, there's an additional performer-complication: "My memory will help me perform well, and a good performance is my unspoken mission in life." This could apply to debates, job interviews, who knows what. This loose chain of various factors would, in my mind, point at someone who is likely to overidealize the impact of memory improvements in their life. It also points at someone who should work on subjective knowledge organization before getting into any memory improvements. They should have an external system which for all practical purposes supports the most likely or common holes in their memory. This will also give them designer-builder energy that they usually also crave, it will solve memory problems in the big picture (using a perceptive view-gift of the future to solve a weakness). So it's like a loose subjective risk factor based on some alignment or non-alignments with those things. Otherwise, some amount of memory work is really handy. I mean you'll never forget a thing you really want to remember, ever again. It's a muscle that requires conscious work, but still...I mean I can remember grocery lists from over 30 years ago, critical film theorists from 20 years ago, and how could I ever forget seeing my favorite pair of lazy-day flip-flops looking up at me from within a circuit diagram? That kind of thing.
- t_mann 4y ago
  Yeah, the whole 'life-hack' mindset can be quite toxic. But frankly, my other procrastination habits (mostly browsing comment sites like HN) aren't much better (actually quite bad [0]), so if this one comes with a timer and a daily limit it may actually help reduce screen time. Funny enough, the very first thing I 'ankified' just before writing the post was something I picked up very recently as an alternative to browsing the phone on my commute, solving a Rubik's cube. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-your-phone-may-help-you-live-longer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-yo...