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How to keep track of what you've learnt

freestylemind.com

11–20 of 33 posts

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#11
One thing he didn't mention that helps is learning and reviewing similar things together. If you learn things that are too similar at different times they can interfere with each other; proactive and retroactive inhibition. If you link them and learn them together, they will not only not interfere with each other, but can help reinforce each other.

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#14

Interesting choice of image. The gears cannot turn. http://www.freestylemind.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/brai...

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why not? The radius and tooth count appear to be the same on all four, and the directions of rotation match if each turns opposite the two it touches.

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#15
post #2

If someone made a really intuitive web app for this I would totally use it. Usability would be key though. Painless to enter data, easy tagging system, and easy wandering system to keep on top of everything.

My problem would be trusting all of this information to a third party. At the very least, I would want a means of exporting the information in some open format to my desktop.

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#16
I don't think this is necessary. If something is boring, you'll forget it. If something is interesting, you'll remember it. You'll think about it a few times, and perhaps discuss it with other people. You'll link it mentally to other parts of your worldview. All these things will increase your ability to recall it when necessary, without effort.

To improve memory generally, stay fit and live a sober and useful life.

NB: I'm leaving this comment because I'll have forgotten about the article by tomorrow :-)

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#17
I always find it interesting that say if someone asked me to describer every article I read on HN in a day I wouldn't be able to but if conversations with friends come up where each of them were relevant I'm usually able to describe there point of view and information and detail.

Also it's similar with studying, I will go through the material and write all the key points down. I won't actually read them again, unless I forget something relevant later in study. I find in the exam when I'm given a relevant question I have near perfect recall on what I've studied no matter how large the amount of knowledge that I've gone through in a couple of days.

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#18

Interesting choice of image. The gears cannot turn. http://www.freestylemind.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/brai...

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why not? The radius and tooth count appear to be the same on all four, and the directions of rotation match if each turns opposite the two it touches.

Ceci n'est pas un engrenage? :)

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#19

I don't think this is necessary. If something is boring, you'll forget it. If something is interesting, you'll remember it. You'll think about it a few times, and perhaps discuss it with other people. You'll link it mentally to other parts of your worldview. All these things will increase your ability to recall it when necessary, without effort. To improve memory generally, stay fit and live a sober and useful life.…

I guess, if you want to only know basic stuff. But engineers, programmers, physicists (etc..) can benefit from maintaining a large knowledge base of stuff that they wouldn't find interesting or have a conversation about. If you only try to remember stuff that interests you, you probably won't be as successful as someone who can remember even the uninteresting stuff.

Besides, knowledge is a VERY powerful thing.

Re: How to keep track of what you've learnt

#20
n(n+1)/2 is not something one should memorize. IMHO you waste too much of your life if you (constantly) memorize, try to find the beauty instead. :)

    1   +   2   +   3   +  ...  +   n
    n   + (n-1) + (n-2) +  ...  +   1
  -------------------------------------
  (n+1) + (n+1) + (n+1) +  ...  + (n+1) = n*(n+1)
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