I think probably the main issue is that a lot of people just don't enjoy studying with flashcards. You could tell them it will literally make them 2x more efficient, and even if they believe you they still won't want to use it.
I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
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Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#32Ancdata-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?
German -> English (or my mother tongue) is easy. I probably remember >90%. But the other way it's harder. I remember maybe half of those German words, further 1/4 I can recall after some mental effort, and probably 1/4 are lost or they would require say >10 min thinking (actually possible to recover them with some techniques).
In any case I use many of those words actively today (e.g. during my German classes).
E.g. yesterday, I tried to use word 'horizontal' in German, as it was on the list, and couldn't recall it quickly. My teacher gave me the word ('waagrecht'), and I should have obviously know it, and would know the meaning if somebody used it in German, but couldn't recall it easily.
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#33Outside 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…
The point of Anki is that you will never forget an ever growing library of information if you maintain the habit.
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#34Outside 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 collect interesting facts and tidbits I find in books, podcasts, and YouTube, and turn them into flashcards. It helps me remember various insights that I would otherwise forget. For example, I made cards for different Russell conjugates[0], definitions of certain words (eg culture, knowledge, optics, reify, ancillary, falsifiable), and quotes from books.
You can program yourself with flashcards[1]. EG I have a card that says "What should you do when someone is explaining something and you don't understand?" (Ask questions until you understand). When my colleague is explaining something and I just don't get it, this flashcard triggers me to ask questions, instead of pretending to understand.
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotive_conjugation
1: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/iocMeRcSKf3gAxsTh/self-progr...
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#35I 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…
> if you really think SR is the best thing ever, don't argue with people - prove us wrong.
Prove you wrong how? By learning things with it? Plenty of people already have used SR to pass tests, aid in learning a language, etc. There are scientific papers that show SR to be an effective learning tool.
I really don't get what you're asking for. It's not like SR learning is going to let you "unleash your strength on the quivering masses".
You also have to propose an alternative to it. In your comment, you seem to have critiqued it with "if you want to be an encyclopedia, maybe SR is a good approach. But if you want to understand the world .... SR can't help you".
The fact that you say "If you want to be an encyclopedia, maybe SR is a good approach" indicates to me that you think SR does actually work, and so there's nothing to prove here.
Yes, obviously if your strawman is "SR compared to moving to the culture to learn a language", then SR will fall short. But no one is saying that, everyone's saying "Instead of looking up a word in a dictionary each time you forget it, use SR, and instead of just doing immersion, do immersion + SR"
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#36When I first got into Linux I was like this. I regret it, now I very rarely recommend someone to try it and almost never help them set it up. I guest most people here understand why, tfa is very recognizable to me. Now 20 years later I run all my infrastructure from my basement, no cloud dependency for me, my OS does not spy on me and all tools I need for day to day life are Free... Freedom!!! See I proved them wrong…
>Right? Wrong! Nobody cares!
Until they're obviously affected by the implications (e.g. of depencies & privacy) :)
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#37The older I get, the less I care about influencing other people in any way.
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#38SRS 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 so…
I’m always curious about the “Anki should be prettier” comment. I use Anki a lot, so I’m not in the best position to judge its first-hand impression. But, what would you say should change? Both in terms of visuals and interaction? Genuinely asking.
Anki has _way_ too many knobs and options. It is overwhelming, and they are also footguns.
The success of WaniKani for example is notable because you can effectively make the exact same thing for free using Anki (and the unofficial decks are available) but it is still quite popular to pay for the managed experience.
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#39SRS 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 so…
I was going to reply that Quizlet (a mainstream/pretty learning app) offers SRS. I even found their launch announcement from 2017. [1] Then I saw that they killed it in 2020. [2] I wonder why?
1: https://quizlet.com/blog/spaced-repetition-for-all-cognitive...
2: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/36567535/Quizlet-is-shutt...
Re: I No Longer Tell My Friends about Anki/SuperMemo
#40Similar experience here. Different domain, but a topic that could be useful for most people, but isn’t interesting for most people.
Solution: don’t talk too much about it. Casually drop a sentence or two and then let them figure out the rest.
Your goal should be that someone hears of your important topic at all. Because it’s often just random chance whether or not we stumble over something that is interesting or good for us.
That’s why the randomness of HN is so appealing. 95% is useless for one specific person, but once in a while that person stumbles upon a gem that is exactly right for them.
And sometimes, it is the right info but not the right time and they might come back to you later to ask more, although this rarely happens.
Make a website for people that are already interested in the topic. The rest of your effort should be spend just mentioning the sheer existence of your topic. Don’t lecture anyone. That is enough.
OP talks for 10 minutes about SRS. Yes, nobody gives a shit. Instead say: I use Anki, because it helps me to learn XYZ a lot faster. Then change the topic. Not mentioning it at all is bad, because it robs the other person of the chance that this is the gem they actually need right now.