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Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#71

Post by boppo1 »

fartcannon wrote: post #48
vubui wrote: post #43

You can't forget something if you understood it. A concept is internalized when one understood the concept. Techniques to memorize something is not effective. Even worse techniques are glorified. Then one spends a lifetime polishing the techniques to memorize what they wanted to internalize in the first place. It's a trap. Want to memorize something? Try to really understand what's going on. You cannot forget somethi…

I tried this technique in university. I ended up with B's and C's while my friends, who just memorized the exams, got magna cum laude. Granted, I may have just been too slow to really understand the material in time for the exams, but it's worth mentioning that sometimes its better for your life to just memorize things.

This makes two of us. "I'll just strive to understand well" didn't get me very good grades vs taking the time to memorize. It felt like I kept some sort of integrity, but really I probably would have even wound up with a better understanding if I had memorized.

This thread marks me giving in and admitting my stubborn philosophy didn't work.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#72

Post by serjester »

gremloni wrote: post #65
flashgordon wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't sure so had to ask. Where you making a joke? Did the sde have actual measurable perf problems?

The lack of recall led to severe perf problems. He had a hard time fixing bugs quickly on code he had written. A significant change from the past, I presume he has started smoking a lot of weed.

This sounds more like they’re burned out. Subordinates going from great to terrible usually means the business is failing them, not they suddenly “started smoking a lot of weed”. I would take a hard look at your job as a manager.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#73

Post by suyula »

gremloni wrote: post #65
flashgordon wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wasn't sure so had to ask. Where you making a joke? Did the sde have actual measurable perf problems?

The lack of recall led to severe perf problems. He had a hard time fixing bugs quickly on code he had written. A significant change from the past, I presume he has started smoking a lot of weed.

He might have had COVID as well.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#74

Post by jacquesm »

fzil wrote: post #58
jacquesm wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the best articles on SRS out there: https://www.gwern.net/Spaced-repetition

That is an incredibly beautiful website. Thank you for sharing!

Gwern is like the harvester combine of document review, when he has passed there is nothing left, just some dry stalks. I've learned so much just by looking at how he organizes his work.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#75

Post by gremloni »

serjester wrote: post #72
gremloni wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lack of recall led to severe perf problems. He had a hard time fixing bugs quickly on code he had written. A significant change from the past, I presume he has started smoking a lot of weed.

This sounds more like they’re burned out. Subordinates going from great to terrible usually means the business is failing them, not they suddenly “started smoking a lot of weed”. I would take a hard look at your job as a manager.

No, he smells like pot.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#76

Post by muzani »

xboxnolifes wrote: post #35
reciprocity wrote: post #21

One of the most successful methods I've found for me is to rewrite the material. I haven't seen anyone suggest this yet. By rewriting the material, you are recoding it. You are forcing yourself to think about the information differently: what you are doing is explaining it to yourself. This to me is far more effective than something like highlighting, because in rewriting that material, you are also clarifying your u…

Very much this for me. It's the reason I wrote notes instead of typed them in college. The intention was never to use the note for reference, but the act of writing them enforces your memory.

I'd think that for code, typing them is more effective than writing?

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#77

Post by muzani »

Interesting how everyone talks about supermemo and anki, but even the supermemo founder gives some tips for before you put it in there:

http://super-memory.com/articles/20rules.htm

Rule 1 (and 2 and 3) state you have to understand it well before you can memorize it, otherwise it's a waste of time.

The others are mnemonic techniques or ways you can split complex information into chunks.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#78

Post by radu_floricica »

If I really need a book memorized:

1. I read it

2. Reread it while highlighting the key passages. A huuge percentage of a book is non-critical - either filler or argumentation. You read the argumentation on the first pass and make a decision, and only pick the passages you accept.

3. Read only the highlighted parts.

Use spaced repetition, of course, and you can reread the key parts several times.

Re: Ask HN: How do you memorize things you read?

#79

Post by thecleaner »

gremloni wrote: post #61
reciprocity wrote: post #21

One of the most successful methods I've found for me is to rewrite the material. I haven't seen anyone suggest this yet. By rewriting the material, you are recoding it. You are forcing yourself to think about the information differently: what you are doing is explaining it to yourself. This to me is far more effective than something like highlighting, because in rewriting that material, you are also clarifying your u…

I can vouch for this. I just gave an SDE a bad performance review because he could never recall any code he worked on or how it worked…

Is there scientific evidence linking marijuana to memory loss ?
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