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Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

natemeyvis.com

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Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#11

Post by rjh29 »

santoshalper wrote: post #7
satisfice wrote: post #5

Does doing this have utility? What problem does it solve? Years ago, I memorized 1034 digits of pi just to see what it felt like (reciting pi from memory felt like walking through a forest at night without bumping into any trees). So, there was some value in that experience. I wonder what this guy gets out of it?

I think they just enjoy memorizing things. Roughly the equivalent of meeting someone who runs 10 miles a day. They enjoy it and it has some benefit to their life as well, even though they are probably far past the point of diminishing returns.

More precisely, enjoys memorizing things but isn't good at it. Professonal quizzers can absorb huge amounts of information but typically don't use flashcards. OP is grinding thousands of cards a day to get to the same level - worthy of respect!

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#12

Post by NoSalt »

Are these physical flashcards or virtual, some sort of flashcard software? Definitely writing out 301,432 physical flashcards would be a lot of work, not to mention [kinda] a waste of paper, however many people still like the physical over the virtual; this is me when it comes to reading books.

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#13

Post by basscomm »

satisfice wrote: post #5

Does doing this have utility? What problem does it solve? Years ago, I memorized 1034 digits of pi just to see what it felt like (reciting pi from memory felt like walking through a forest at night without bumping into any trees). So, there was some value in that experience. I wonder what this guy gets out of it?

His homepage says that he likes memorizing things. There is utility in doing something you enjoy for the sake of it.

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#14

Post by yangikan »

vunderba wrote: post #2

From the article: > For example, I only record the correctness of a response, not its subjective difficulty, and I mix in random cards with my study sessions to make it harder for me to guess the answer on the basis of when I'm seeing the card. Sounds a bit like the Leitner system [1] with respect to recording only Correct/Incorrect responses. One of the reasons I avoided Anki for a long time was that I wanted to be…

Would love to know more -- what software do you use?

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#15

Post by redfloatplane »

rjh29 wrote: post #11
santoshalper wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they just enjoy memorizing things. Roughly the equivalent of meeting someone who runs 10 miles a day. They enjoy it and it has some benefit to their life as well, even though they are probably far past the point of diminishing returns.

More precisely, enjoys memorizing things but isn't good at it. Professonal quizzers can absorb huge amounts of information but typically don't use flashcards. OP is grinding thousands of cards a day to get to the same level - worthy of respect!

> but typically don't use flashcards

Can you elaborate on this? I watch an unhealthy amount of University Challenge and I assumed that the vast majority of contestants would use flash cards as a trivia retention tool. Most people I've met who need to rely on large amounts of accurate but relatively dispersed knowledge (law students, say, or specific historical professions) use flash cards in one way or another. It surprises me greatly that 'professional quizzers' wouldn't. Perhaps _some_ of them wouldn't - I'm sure as with anything there are some who are preternaturally excellent.

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#16

Post by namrog84 »

NoSalt wrote: post #12

Are these physical flashcards or virtual, some sort of flashcard software? Definitely writing out 301,432 physical flashcards would be a lot of work, not to mention [kinda] a waste of paper, however many people still like the physical over the virtual; this is me when it comes to reading books.

Bullets 2,3, and 4

* I'm using my own software

* I did 301,432 flashcard reviews in 2025.

* Those reviews covered 52,764 distinct cards.

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#17

Post by diimdeep »

satisfice wrote: post #5

Does doing this have utility? What problem does it solve? Years ago, I memorized 1034 digits of pi just to see what it felt like (reciting pi from memory felt like walking through a forest at night without bumping into any trees). So, there was some value in that experience. I wonder what this guy gets out of it?

Very cool, and have you actually used forest as memory palace ? this and chunking + imagery mapped to digits, is what got suggested to me just now by chatbot as technique that memory athletes use; got curious myself but never tried something like this.

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#18

Post by elil17 »

davio wrote: post #9
webdevver wrote: post #8

would be really funny if this was actually someone preparing for who wants to be a millionaire

That was my first thought - "Is this guy training for Jeopardy?"

He does link to someone who does 3k flashcards per day to prep for Jeopardy.

Re: Yearly analytics on my spaced repetition results

#20

Post by smuenkel »

vunderba wrote: post #2

From the article: > For example, I only record the correctness of a response, not its subjective difficulty, and I mix in random cards with my study sessions to make it harder for me to guess the answer on the basis of when I'm seeing the card. Sounds a bit like the Leitner system [1] with respect to recording only Correct/Incorrect responses. One of the reasons I avoided Anki for a long time was that I wanted to be…

If you have the software for that in a repo somewhere, I'd be interested in seeing how you made that work as well.
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