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Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

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Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#21

Post by shrimp_emoji »

drakonka wrote: post #7

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 u…

Outside of pathology, the mechanism of forgetting seems pretty important: 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.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#22

Post by undefinedzero »

I’ve given up staying up-to-date on everything and limited myself to things I can apply or are direct alternatives to technologies I use. Things like Meta’s approach to caching on Facebook and stuff are interesting but only really relevant for less than a dozen people and I reckon a waste of time for most others. If I skip that I can mull longer on the topics relevant for me.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#23

Post by sbfeibish »

I have a Notes folder containing 'subject' text files. Notes/crypto.txt Notes/docker.txt Notes/equity.txt ... anything and everything one day I'll divide them into subfolders Notes/geopolitics/zeihan.txt Notes/programming/languages/rust.txt

if a text file isn't good enough, or there needs to be an image embedded, I use other file types

And a Documents folder containing 'subject' article files. Documents/Programming/Languages/Rust ...

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#24

Post by punnerud »

The goal should be to know what you don’t know, because you can’t ask questions about the things you don’t know that you don’t know.

So forgetting is ok, as long as you remember that there was something extra the next time you meet the same problem.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#25

Post by itqwertz »

Just be honest when talking about these things. No one knows everything, so people will appreciate the humility as well as the eagerness to adopt new tech.

Keep refreshing HN to keep up to date, but realize any engineer worth his salt can figure out new tech in a week or two. No need to be an expert.

Sometimes, the fate and knowledge of an engineer can be decided by PM ticket assignment. Side projects are good to keep you sharp, but don’t stress. Once you move to management or team lead, you’ll realize that a competent engineer will always deliver results.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#26

Post by igetspam »

Don't. Let them fade. Reread the docs when you need them. The amount of brain space you'd need to keep rarely used topics fresh is unimaginable. Relearning to ride a bike is easier than learning the first time (unless you've had a stroke). You'll pick it up again. Learn for the sake of learning and let go. All you need to maintain is the references and meta data.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#27

Post by igetspam »

punnerud wrote: post #24

The goal should be to know what you don’t know, because you can’t ask questions about the things you don’t know that you don’t know. So forgetting is ok, as long as you remember that there was something extra the next time you meet the same problem.

This. It reads like the answer to dunning Kruger.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#28

Post by Alekhine »

sbfeibish wrote: post #23

I have a Notes folder containing 'subject' text files. Notes/crypto.txt Notes/docker.txt Notes/equity.txt ... anything and everything one day I'll divide them into subfolders Notes/geopolitics/zeihan.txt Notes/programming/languages/rust.txt if a text file isn't good enough, or there needs to be an image embedded, I use other file types And a Documents folder containing 'subject' article files. Documents/Programming/L…

I do the exact same thing. Its been very effective. Looking at something I wrote myself refreshes my memory a lot more than any other kind of resource.

I personally use markdown files in the event I want to publish one of my notes. It also let's me inline images and see them if my editor supports previewing.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#29

Post by ubj »

drakonka wrote: post #15
ubj wrote: post #9

Learn the basics of how human memory works, and techniques for making knowledge stick in long-term memory. Here's a few resources that teach this at an approachable level: [1] A Mind for Numbers (book): https://barbaraoakley.com/books/a-mind-for-numbers/ [2] Learning How To Learn (Coursera course): https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn [3] Make It Stick (book): https://www.retrievalpractice.org/make-it…

Thank you especially for linking the Augmenting Long-Term Memory post. I'm just on the part going through the author's usage of Anki and it has already inspired me to download the client and try it myself as well. I don't think I'll put nearly as many things in it as the author says he does, but it sounds like it can be an incredible tool for whatever we find worth remembering. Update: After reading the API section o…

Great points. I agree that one of the challenges is identifying what knowledge is worth investing the time to bake into long-term memory.

Paying attention to what knowledge I (or top performers) use most often in practical projects / everyday work has helped. I also try to identify fundamentals; i.e. chunks of knowledge that experts in a field have identified as critical to understanding that field.

Re: Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

#30

Post by kayodelycaon »

I leverage technology to replace memory. Details don’t matter if I know a thing exists and I’m good at finding things. Finding things is a far more useful skill to develop than memorization.

It is highly unlikely I’ll end up in a situation without cell signal, I carry an iPhone, Kindle Paperwhite, and a cellular iPad Mini (256gb) literally everywhere. (Handbags are awesome.)

On the off chance, I’m away from the internet and my kindle doesn’t have a useful book, I have all of Wikipedia and Wikitonary downloaded in Kiwix on my iPad Mini, downloaded PDFs in Dropbox, and a bunch of books in the D&D Beyond app, and videos in Youtube, because why not.

Any thing I need to remember is in Apple Notes or Scrivener. (All my research for stories is in a project file.)

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