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I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

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Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#11

Post by ZephyrBlu »

instance wrote: post #6
xupybd wrote: post #2

Outside of learning a language are there many times that wrote memorization is useful? I can't think how I would use this in a software development sense. Coding katas come close to this and a useful but I'm not sure flash cards would do the same. Maybe it would be handy to memorize a libraries API but then if I use something enough that memorization would be useful I'll learn it by way of using it.

There was a post not too long ago (I can't remember it unfortunately) where someone argued that memorization (they used software development specifically as the example) could help in connecting concepts. You can be a developer who knows what to google. Or you could be one who knows lots by heart and connects everything they know. I'm a bit sceptical myself, since rote memorization seems like something that is easily…

I feel like understanding rather than pure knowledge is what allows you to connect concepts.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#12

Post by Tepix »

im3w1l wrote: post #9
jacquesm wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Traffic signs musical notation geography history chemistry metallurgy physics healthcare ... This is one of those 'what have the Romans done for us' comments. Intelligence + facts = smarts. Facts are to thinking like fuel is to an engine, without facts your thinking will be either useless or wrong. So regardless of how smart you are some degree of access to facts is a requirement and if you can do this without having…

Did you use it for any of these and what was your experience?

I used it to study for an ICC exam. I passed the test so it worked really well i'd say.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#13

Post by jagrsw »

Ancdata-o-story similar to what the author describes in the article.

2-3 months ago I was about to take the Goethe B1 exam (German language). I would had probably passed it anyway, but wanted to be sure. I downloaded the official Goethe B1 wordlist (2.5k words), and one week before the exam I started learning it in Anki.

I spent on avg. 2.5h per day, and out of those 2.5k words, I didn't know maybe 800. I've learnt them. Many of those words appeared later during the exam.

I told about it my German teacher, somewhat excited, and she was sort-a 'meh, whatever, you can also learn in other ways'. I tried to explain, that "800 words, and in a week, and so fast", but as much as she loved my good exam results, she had no intention to recommend this way of learning to others.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#15

Post by henrikeh »

xupybd wrote: post #2

Outside of learning a language are there many times that wrote memorization is useful? I can't think how I would use this in a software development sense. Coding katas come close to this and a useful but I'm not sure flash cards would do the same. Maybe it would be handy to memorize a libraries API but then if I use something enough that memorization would be useful I'll learn it by way of using it.

I’ve used flashcards quite extensively during my studies (electrical engineering and telecom engineering) and I continue to use it for technical subjects; albeit with reduced intensity.

Spaced repetition systems are not just about “rote” memorization. When used right it is a very personalized practice tool that can help with quite high-level ideas.

I wouldn’t fx. make flashcards for an entire API — instead I would focus on the concepts and features that are important for what I am doing. You can make it about “exactly” what you want to practice and remember.

Think of it more as a collection of personal notes with build in recall practice, rather than remembering scores of “random” facts.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#16

Post by keiferski »

SRS is the classic technical user situation. Anki looks like it’s from 1995 and has a massive initial learning curve with specialized vocabulary to learn (Cloze, decks, etc.) When it’s advertised, the copy is overly technical and confusing to the average person. Just look at SuperMemo’s home page, for an example:

https://www.supermemo.com/en

To get widespread SRS adoption, two things need to happen:

1. The primary software needs to be simplified and prettified. The aesthetics of Anki are unappealing to pretty much everyone. And just using it has a learning curve far greater than basically every other popular app.

2. The marketing message needs to be about benefits, not features. No one cares about the forgetting curve or the intricacies of available card types. Everyone cares about saving time and money, learning cool stuff, and having fun.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#17

Post by CryingSofa »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #11
instance wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a post not too long ago (I can't remember it unfortunately) where someone argued that memorization (they used software development specifically as the example) could help in connecting concepts. You can be a developer who knows what to google. Or you could be one who knows lots by heart and connects everything they know. I'm a bit sceptical myself, since rote memorization seems like something that is easily…

I feel like understanding rather than pure knowledge is what allows you to connect concepts.

Yes, but some knowledge is a requirement to really understand something. Trivial example: can you really understand addition of numbers if you can't remember how to do it?

Pure memorization of facts is also really helpful to creating new understanding: Have you ever read a textbook that stacked definition upon definition and at some point you can't really keep up anymore because you're going back to the previous paragraphs all the time? At that point, pure memorization of definitions (even without understanding them really) already helps massively to reduce cognitive overload and makes forming new understanding form the rest of the text even possible.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#18

Post by moksly »

jagrsw wrote: post #13

Ancdata-o-story similar to what the author describes in the article. 2-3 months ago I was about to take the Goethe B1 exam (German language). I would had probably passed it anyway, but wanted to be sure. I downloaded the official Goethe B1 wordlist (2.5k words), and one week before the exam I started learning it in Anki. I spent on avg. 2.5h per day, and out of those 2.5k words, I didn't know maybe 800. I've learnt t…

Do you still know those 800 words today?

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#19

Post by ketzo »

btrask wrote: post #8

I say this with all the kindness that I have... this article/guy is really sad. First of all, if you think you've found the world's ultimate fighting technique, don't try to show it to random people for approval. Use it. Anki yourself in secret until you're a super-saiyan, and then unleash your strength on the quivering masses. Hear the lamentation of their women, until they are begging you for mercy and also to teac…

It reinforces something I think I’m slowly learning: tools are just tools, nothing more. Anki has its place, as does an impact driver; neither will make you a better person by itself.

Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo

#20

Post by eindiran »

btrask wrote: post #8

I say this with all the kindness that I have... this article/guy is really sad. First of all, if you think you've found the world's ultimate fighting technique, don't try to show it to random people for approval. Use it. Anki yourself in secret until you're a super-saiyan, and then unleash your strength on the quivering masses. Hear the lamentation of their women, until they are begging you for mercy and also to teac…

I don't think anyone promised that spaced repetition would turn you into The Most Interesting Man in The World™, and if they did you would be rightfully disappointed. But SR is good at getting you to remember things and sometimes that's the problem you need to solve.

Not everything can be solved with a hammer, but sometimes you have a bunch of nails that need to be hammered-in.

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