6 ms·

Why is it useful? My job at least isn’t bottlenecked by me not memorizing enough things. Or maybe it is! But I’m not convinced

iFreilicht 4y ago
I don't personally use this method, but it seems to me like this would help with all the cases where you search for something on stackoverflow, use the solution, and 3+ months later you encounter the exact same issue. You remember that you already had this issue, and you remember that you searched on SO and found a solution, but you don't remember what it was. If you wrote a flash-card and learned it, you'd have that knowledge available immediately. Or, let's say you're learning a new language/framework that you want to use professionally, but don't use frequently yet. So you start a project in that language/framework, learn some of the things that make it different, and every time something surprised you or you had to search for a solution, you write a flashcard. Then you can learn these aspects separately from having to work on a project, and once you do have a use for it, you have the knowledge available. I think this could be less likely if you're very specialized, but if you're a consultant or freelancer and have to work with lots of different technologies, locking down the differences and unique aspects for each could save a lot of time.
- achileas 4y ago
  There are (arguably) better ways to handle this, though. When you get enough cards, you won't conceivably review them all within a reasonable enough timespan to encounter concepts often enough to really remember. The use case you mention is more suited to a personal knowledgebase with good search capabilities and/or networking, like Obsidian, Tana, Roam, org-mode, whatever. That way you have the knowledge somewhere, you can search it (of course, this can be lossy - like writing good cards this requires writing good notes), and you can build up all the context you need. I think the article misses the mark on the dichotomy here - it's not search vs. flash cards, it's owning your knowledge vs. relying on external, potentially ephemeral sources. Flash cards and spaced repetition are great for certain use cases (Anki is incredibly popular among language learners for a reason), but not for all of them.
senguidev 4y ago
This could give you some clues: http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html#:~:text=How%20important%20is%20long%2Dterm%20memory%2C%20anyway%3F http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html#:~:text=How%20import... (see part II)
BeetleB 4y ago
Don't think in terms of bottlenecks but rather in terms of missed opportunities. Although already a power Emacs user, it was a significant step up when I started memorizing keystone for various modes via spaced repetition.
NiloCK 4y ago
People have this weird disdain for memorization. Memorization is the same as knowing. Can you imagine that there have been points in your job that would have gone smoother if you'd known more?
- atian 4y ago
  I don’t believe them to be the same. I have friends who repeat words to me GPT style, that I know them to be imprecise in the spirit of the discussion.
  - emodendroket 4y ago
    Then they didn't really memorize them properly, did they?
  - deleted 4y ago
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- deleted 4y ago
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- bcrosby95 4y ago
  Understanding is the structure of knowing. Memorization is the paint on top. It ain't gonna hold your house up.
  - Spivak 4y ago
    Memorization is actually the foundation whether you do it with intention or not. Everything in your working knowledge is something you memorized.
  - lmpdev 4y ago
    Memorisation is adding nodes to your existing network of knowledge Understanding is efficiently arranging and coordinating those nodes in an efficient path for most situations Wisdom is knowing in which contexts to actually apply that path of nodes Tacit knowledge is similar to wisdom just it generally lacks memorisation There's not a perfect mapping in English between Memorisation, Understanding and Wisdom and their most pragmatic corresponding analogues in nature, but I have found this distinction between terms useful in the whole memorisation v understanding debate
mym1990 4y ago
In problem solving there can be a balance between creativity and knowledge. Creativity can help you link different domains to create novel solutions, and knowledge can help with avoiding blind spots. Knowledge can also be a blunt force for problem solving, it is most likely the case that someone has already encountered your problem, and knowing even a bit about that solution is very helpful.

iFreilicht 4y ago

I don't personally use this method, but it seems to me like this would help with all the cases where you search for something on stackoverflow, use the solution, and 3+ months later you encounter the exact same issue. You remember that you already had this issue, and you remember that you searched on SO and found a solution, but you don't remember what it was. If you wrote a flash-card and learned it, you'd have that knowledge available immediately. Or, let's say you're learning a new language/framework that you want to use professionally, but don't use frequently yet. So you start a project in that language/framework, learn some of the things that make it different, and every time something surprised you or you had to search for a solution, you write a flashcard. Then you can learn these aspects separately from having to work on a project, and once you do have a use for it, you have the knowledge available. I think this could be less likely if you're very specialized, but if you're a consultant or freelancer and have to work with lots of different technologies, locking down the differences and unique aspects for each could save a lot of time.

achileas 4y ago
There are (arguably) better ways to handle this, though. When you get enough cards, you won't conceivably review them all within a reasonable enough timespan to encounter concepts often enough to really remember. The use case you mention is more suited to a personal knowledgebase with good search capabilities and/or networking, like Obsidian, Tana, Roam, org-mode, whatever. That way you have the knowledge somewhere, you can search it (of course, this can be lossy - like writing good cards this requires writing good notes), and you can build up all the context you need. I think the article misses the mark on the dichotomy here - it's not search vs. flash cards, it's owning your knowledge vs. relying on external, potentially ephemeral sources. Flash cards and spaced repetition are great for certain use cases (Anki is incredibly popular among language learners for a reason), but not for all of them.

senguidev 4y ago

This could give you some clues: http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html#:~:text=How%20important%20is%20long%2Dterm%20memory%2C%20anyway%3F http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html#:~:text=How%20import... (see part II)

BeetleB 4y ago

Don't think in terms of bottlenecks but rather in terms of missed opportunities. Although already a power Emacs user, it was a significant step up when I started memorizing keystone for various modes via spaced repetition.

NiloCK 4y ago

People have this weird disdain for memorization. Memorization is the same as knowing. Can you imagine that there have been points in your job that would have gone smoother if you'd known more?

atian 4y ago
I don’t believe them to be the same. I have friends who repeat words to me GPT style, that I know them to be imprecise in the spirit of the discussion.
- emodendroket 4y ago
  Then they didn't really memorize them properly, did they?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
bcrosby95 4y ago
Understanding is the structure of knowing. Memorization is the paint on top. It ain't gonna hold your house up.
- Spivak 4y ago
  Memorization is actually the foundation whether you do it with intention or not. Everything in your working knowledge is something you memorized.
- lmpdev 4y ago
  Memorisation is adding nodes to your existing network of knowledge Understanding is efficiently arranging and coordinating those nodes in an efficient path for most situations Wisdom is knowing in which contexts to actually apply that path of nodes Tacit knowledge is similar to wisdom just it generally lacks memorisation There's not a perfect mapping in English between Memorisation, Understanding and Wisdom and their most pragmatic corresponding analogues in nature, but I have found this distinction between terms useful in the whole memorisation v understanding debate

mym1990 4y ago

In problem solving there can be a balance between creativity and knowledge. Creativity can help you link different domains to create novel solutions, and knowledge can help with avoiding blind spots. Knowledge can also be a blunt force for problem solving, it is most likely the case that someone has already encountered your problem, and knowing even a bit about that solution is very helpful.