A system to help you remember more of what you read • Hacker News Board

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#71

Post by 2020-3030 » Sun, Jul 01, 2018, 11:11 PM UTC

BeetleB wrote: post #61

allworknoplay wrote: post #42

I find that simply sitting and thinking while -- and after -- reading nonfiction (or fiction, if it's got good ideas) burns the facts and ideas in as well as anything. I don't think most people allow as much time for reflection and mind-wandering as they ought to; expecting yourself to remember fact after fact without taking time to really absorb, reflect, and expand on them doesn't seem realistic. It's not unlike a…

I've tried this and failed - I don't retain much a few months down the road with this method. And as with false memories, what I do retain is often not quite right. My process is not as involved. I take notes in a notebook while reading. Then I make blog posts out of them. This way I can review/consult any time, any where. This really does slow down my process, though. I used to read several books in the time it now…

I like your method because it shares what you learn with others while helping you repeat and process the material.

And what good is it to plow through book after book if we remember little or nothing? Quite a few universities also don't give people any time to reflect between courses so modern schooling and many people's reading habits are geared more to the initial stimulation of reading and less to memory.

I'm a firm believer in taking notes, reflecting, and explaining the ideas to others for anything we really want to remember or master.

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#72

Post by rjeli » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 2:59 AM UTC

SloopJon wrote: post #46

Can anyone recommend software to help generate quizzes, preferably with a spaced repetition component? So, instead of a single card that associates "agua" with "water", a set of cards like "____ es mojada" or "vaso de ____ fría". It might have a multiple choice interface where the order of the choices varies, and maybe the wrong choices vary as well.

Anki calls this cloze deletion: https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html#cloze

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#73

Post by internetman55 » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 3:01 AM UTC

My question: if great none of the essayists, thinkers, writers, etc. have used and endorsed such a method, why am I going to care enough about the method to even read such instructions? If they have, why isnt this explained in the introduction?

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#74

Post by michaelcampbell » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 2:06 PM UTC

nottorp wrote: post #21

Isn't this article 10 years too late? Today people need youtube tutorials to show them how to edit a 10 line configuration file. A (video) tutorial explaining to them how much time they lose watching videos instead of reading would be more appropriate.

"prefer" != "need"

Most of that is what they are used to.

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#75

Post by danial » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 4:55 PM UTC

wst_ wrote: post #50

danial wrote: post #32

I only record facts that I read in non-fiction (the mark-as-Q method from the article). I highlight them in Kindle while reading ebooks. I then transfer them into Anki flashcards after I'm done reading it. I don't highlight analysis and commentary. I don't highlight how the author reached a certain conclusion, just the end result. Some examples of what I am highlighting while reading On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins:…

> I wish there was a good way to transfer these highlights from my Kindle into Anki flashcards automatically Wouldn't the result be actually opposite from anticipated? It's exactly writing about the stuff by yourself a way for remembering it. It won't stick if you just automate the process. Or rather it will, for long enough to deceive you into thinking you know it, but you'd probably forget it after a while anyway.…

That's a good point. I'm not sure because I haven't been doing it regularly enough because of the friction of adding cards into the system.

I do want to note that once the cards are added to Anki, it will force you to review the card at the right times automatically to keep retention high. This is assuming you have a system that forces you to review Anki content daily. I am not sure how big of a difference it will make to keep retention high if you're not adding cards manually.

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#76

Post by bachbach » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 6:49 PM UTC

slics wrote: post #30

The challenge this days with remembering anything is the fact that we no longer train our mind to remember or store anything. We are slowly learning how not to remember anything. The convenience tools such as Alexa or Google will one day make us even forget our own home address. Convenience is the Evil of Everything. (yep just made that up on the fly).

David Krakauer of Santa Fe Institute has expanded on the same concept with some great Youtube videos.

Everybody I meet today has some memory loss, the younger the worse it gets.

In the future there may be "Mind Gyms" for exercising our mental processes to keep them fit.

Re: A system to help you remember more of what you read

#77

Post by kapad » Mon, Jul 02, 2018, 9:16 PM UTC

allworknoplay wrote: post #42

I find that simply sitting and thinking while -- and after -- reading nonfiction (or fiction, if it's got good ideas) burns the facts and ideas in as well as anything. I don't think most people allow as much time for reflection and mind-wandering as they ought to; expecting yourself to remember fact after fact without taking time to really absorb, reflect, and expand on them doesn't seem realistic. It's not unlike a…

Completely agree. I generally take an awful lot of time completing a book. And it's not that I'm a very slow reader. It's just that when reading non fiction, I often Google something from the book, or think about something a bit more and sometimes just flip back to reread a few pages and improve my understanding.