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Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

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Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#21

Post by amelius »

bhrgunatha wrote: post #17
DavidSJ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t care, don’t add it to your deck. What’s that you say? You downloaded premade decks? Don’t do that! Constructing your deck yourself is an important part of the learning process.

I use anki to document and remember all my emacs custom key-bindings. That might sound silly but it's easy to accumulate useful things over the years in emacs and forget about them. Emacs is vast and deep and there's a lot to learn and remember. It also serves the same purpose for key-bindings and functions in various modes and packages.

Wouldn't it be easier if you could just pop up a help screen with a good search option whenever you needed to know a certain key combination?

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#22

Post by nabla9 »

leke wrote: post #16

Trying to learn Finish vocab, Anki made me realize I had terrible recall. Sometimes, I couldn't even remember what the last freaking card was, and I would forget most things the next day, and everything the day after. After about 3 weeks, I had only remembered 3 or 4 words, so I gave up.

Learning and memory is a complex thing. If you don't learn even after adjusting the interval, I think there is something else.

Lack of motivation, some mental issue like depression, attention problem while learning. You can't learn stuff like you sweep a floor, tune out and just do the movements.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#23

Post by jayflux »

bhrgunatha wrote: post #17
DavidSJ wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don’t care, don’t add it to your deck. What’s that you say? You downloaded premade decks? Don’t do that! Constructing your deck yourself is an important part of the learning process.

I use anki to document and remember all my emacs custom key-bindings. That might sound silly but it's easy to accumulate useful things over the years in emacs and forget about them. Emacs is vast and deep and there's a lot to learn and remember. It also serves the same purpose for key-bindings and functions in various modes and packages.

> That might sound silly

That’s not silly at all, a lot of people use Anki for things like that. I’ve seen a couple of premade decks but I would avoid these.

When it comes to keybindings its better to make your own deck otherwise you end up learning a load of bindings you’ll never use. I like to add them as and when I need them.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#24

Post by nabla9 »

fizixer wrote: post #2

> Anki as Learning Superpower If it's a superpower, it's at best a rote learning superpower. Can you use Anki to learn quantum field theory, and solve the lamb shift problem without looking at the existing solutions? Cut out the hyperbole please.

Memory is important part of thinking.

When you learn facts, they are easily accessible for thinking and the connections start forming even unconsciously.

The idea that you can keep the facts in a book and the brain is just like CPU that processes them is wrong. You have to remember if you want to learn complex stuff like physics.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#26

Post by HaoZeke »

Smaug123 wrote: post #15
HaoZeke wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably for languages, but even still I would assert memorizing a dictionary is less informative than reading 50 books.

I think there's a false dichotomy here. Memorising a dictionary is easy , because memorisation is a choice (with spaced repetition). Reading a book in an unfamiliar language takes lots of time and mental effort. Both will contribute to your understanding of the language; perhaps memorising a dictionary contributes less, but then there's a lower activation energy involved in it too: whenever you have five minutes spar…

Thanks! I guess I never really thought of going over cards in spare time. In retrospect, that might be why I never got into them. I only used them when I had a lot of time to dedicated towards learning the material anyway and then I preferred reading.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#28

Post by yeutterg »

semicolonandson wrote: post #3

I went rather deep into ankification of computer science - 5500 cards deep. I've written up my experiences as a series of articles here for anyone interested https://www.jackkinsella.ie/articles/janki-method

Hey Jack, I've always found your Anki guides to be some of the best. I'm curious, are you still using it all these years later?

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#29

Post by flamble »

HaoZeke wrote: post #11
barry-cotter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rote learning absolutely does help with comprehension. If you understand all of the words in “ Tod mach’s mir leicht, wenn du kommst vor deiner Zeit” reading it and understanding it is trivial. If you have to look up each word individually your comprehension will at best be enormously slowed. The same principle applies if what you’re reading is a chemical formula, a logical proof or a description of a historical even…

Probably for languages, but even still I would assert memorizing a dictionary is less informative than reading 50 books.

If you use vocab flashcards that contain an example sentence or two showing usage in context, then it is more efficient than reading a book (with regard to the language rather than the book's actual content). Personally, I read books and when I encounter an unfamiliar word, I add it to the flashcard pile, ensuring that I don't forget the new knowledge.

If you're trying to learn the content of the book, the process of converting the information into flashcards entails engaging with the material, so that isn't skipped.

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