Ask HN: How to remember technical topics which you don’t use/refer everyday?

138 pointsby aecs99almost 3 years ago

There are a ton of topics I learn/read on a daily basis. Some are out of my personal interest, some out of need (when interviewing).I notice that after a while, without enough usage, these topics simply evaporate from my memory. I know the simple answer is to keep practicing.I’m interested in knowing how different people do this. Looking for any tips, hacks, etc.

53 comments

DigitallyFidgetalmost 3 years ago

Teach it.I don't know why nobody else has suggested this.If you want to learn, really learn something. Self educate, then teach it to someone else. You'll have to really educate yourself on the subject, but once you do.. Blog post, Twitter, Youtube, Linked-In, or whatever platform you want to use. You'll get corrections if you're wrong about something, and hopefully a load of questions that will make you dig further into the topic. The process of teaching it will reinforce it into your memory as you present it in the way you understand, and the feedback you get will also strengthen your understanding even further. You'll become much less likely to forget it over time.But what if you're like me, and you don't have a social media presence or following to get any kind of feedback? Surely you have friends with similar interests, or know one of those people who likes soaking up knowledge like a sponge. You could use HN here to post something, or post to Reddit's "Today I Learned".Inevitably, teaching something is the best way to learn more about that thing, and learning more about it is what will make it stick better.

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drakonkaalmost 3 years ago

Sorry for the non-answer answer I'm about to give, but I don't really think you should have to keep these things in memory. At some point it becomes a waste of memory space (at least that's how I experience it).There ARE some topics I want to remember, and those I try to put in writing. Both because it helps them stick in my mind for longer and because then I have a reference to go back to if I need a refresher. I use my own blog quite a bit to remember ways to do things that I may have figured out earlier and then forgotten.But in terms of keeping things completely in memory: I have grown to think that, for a healthy mind, the things worth remembering are the things we remember. It's _good_ to remember things you're regularly using. If you're not regularly using them, you may as well forget the details and refresh your memory later if needed. Of course the major caveat being that this is within reasonable limits and not a symptom of an illness or actual serious memory loss.It is a balance, and losing my memory in general is one of my worst fears. I guess it is a matter of deciding if these topics are beginning to evaporate sooner than you're comfortable with. Do they disappear after a day? A week? A year? If I start forgetting knowledge too quickly for my standards, that's when I'll get worried. It's just a matter of deciding what "too quickly" is for us.

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ubjalmost 3 years ago

Learn the basics of how human memory works, and techniques for making knowledge stick in long-term memory. Here's a few resources that teach this at an approachable level:[1] A Mind for Numbers (book): <a href="https://barbaraoakley.com/books/a-mind-for-numbers/" rel="nofollow">https://barbaraoakley.com/books/a-mind-for-numbers/</a>[2] Learning How To Learn (Coursera course): <a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn" rel="nofollow">https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn</a>[3] Make It Stick (book): <a href="https://www.retrievalpractice.org/make-it-stick" rel="nofollow">https://www.retrievalpractice.org/make-it-stick</a>[4] Augmenting Long-Term Memory (blog post): <a href="http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html" rel="nofollow">http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html</a>[5] SuperMemo Guru (website): <a href="https://supermemo.guru/wiki/SuperMemo_Guru" rel="nofollow">https://supermemo.guru/wiki/SuperMemo_Guru</a>[6] Nelson Dellis (YouTube): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnINhoHWuVjUDXp7dav5e3A" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnINhoHWuVjUDXp7dav5e3A</a>I second the use of Anki--it's a great tool. Other (non-free) options include SuperMemo and IDoRecall.

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autoconfigalmost 3 years ago

Hey! As many have already mentioned in this thread, you might want to look into spaced repetition if you haven’t already. To summarize, it’s a simple algorithm that forces you to recall something at an increasing interval until it is committed to long term memory.Anki is a popular app that uses spaced repetition. I personally wasn’t quite satisfied with any of the options out there so I decided to build a new app to solve this problem. Feel free to check it out: <a href="https://activerecall.com/" rel="nofollow">https://activerecall.com/</a> It allows you to create flashcards using a rich text editor with support for things such as code and latex blocks. I’m using it daily both to learn new software development concepts and for general knowledge.Even with a spaced repetition-tool however there is a lot of nuance that goes into the process of acquiring new knowledge. A couple of pointers here:1. It’s important to distinguish the learning step and the act of remembering what you’ve learned. Learning for example means using a new programming concept to the point where you understand it. Now that you have that context, you can encode it in the form of question and answer in a spaced repetition based system to ensure that you will remember what you’ve learned.2. Some things that you want to remember are purely factual, while some require deeper understanding. In the latter case, you’ll want to structure your flashcards in a way that you’re solving a problem when answering it rather than just stating facts. This ensures that you’re actually remembering how to solve something rather than simply stating what the solution is.3. Some things that seem like they are worth remembering when you first put them into your system will later turn out to be time sinks. Don’t be afraid to just get rid of them or keep them for reference (in my app you can “suspend” cards so that you can still search for them etc, essentially turning them into notes).If you end up trying Active Recall out please feel free to reach out with any questions or if you just want to chat more about learning!

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simonwalmost 3 years ago

Make notes, in private and in public.I have a private "notes" repo on GitHub where I keep notes in the issues (the repo itself is empty). Any time I'm trying out a new piece of software I open an issue there, then add notes on the issue comments as I figure things out.I use GitHub issues because they have excellent backups and they show up on GitHub search - plus there's a really good API which I use to periodically export and backup my notes elsewhere.If something fits the TIL format, I'll turn my notes into a TIL and publish them on <a href="https://til.simonwillison.net" rel="nofollow">https://til.simonwillison.net</a> - that site uses the markdown format as GitHub issues, so publishing a TIL that started out as an issue comment only takes me a few minutes.

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punnerudalmost 3 years ago

The goal should be to know what you don’t know, because you can’t ask questions about the things you don’t know that you don’t know.So forgetting is ok, as long as you remember that there was something extra the next time you meet the same problem.

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0xb0565e487almost 3 years ago

Memorization is most often useless. Focus on understanding instead.You need to only retain information that can help you derive useful conclusions, and your mind is most likely smarter than you at that.

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malikeralmost 3 years ago

I write cheatsheets. Just the bare minimum stuff needed to get things done. When I refer back to them it's a lot faster than looking things up again in (e.g.) stackoverflow. My pandas cheatsheet gets probably too much use (damn that API).

sriram_malharalmost 3 years ago

Simply reading stuff is like passively watching TV/youtube. It evaporates fast. Active learning involves your hands. Two techniques work well for me.First, I write code to understand the essence of a piece of software (I have written basic TCP/IP/ARP stacks, a Java compiler, a virtual machine, a database, a neural net library etc). It is a joy to write code for an audience of one when you don't have to worry about error handling!The second is to add an entry to a diary recapping (in your own words)your own understanding of the topic. In my PhD days, I put everything in a single Word doc; I chose Word because I could draw diagrams in it, search with regexes, and the file was available offline. By the end, the file was thousands of pages long. Here's what I had in it.1. For every paper or blog post I read, I put the paper's name, the URL, author's name (in BibTex form, but that's not germane to your issue). I captured my understanding of the paper (about half a page) and put together a list of questions for which I needed answers. There were some papers that went right above my head, so that entry was all questions. I had back and forward references to other entries in the form of embedded links. This exercise (it turned out) helped me smoke out scenarios that the paper had not mentioned. That becomes the basis for critiquing and comparing.2. When my understanding of a topic improved, I would go back and fix some of the outstanding questions, along with a meta comment about what it was about my previous understanding that I couldn't answer the question in the first place.3. I had design ideas, little bits of code, benchmark results etc all in a single linear order. When my advisor asked what I was up to, I could quickly look up the log of entries.It is ok to forget; no one can remember it all. Just capturing the essentials and being willing to work from first principles is good enough for most interviewers.

enasterosophesalmost 3 years ago

It sounds like an X-Y problem [1].X: I want to be able to recall relevant information when it's needed.Y: How do I retain long-term memory of technical topics without practising them every day?To solve X, it is sufficient to be able to reliably rediscover information as it is needed. Putting it into long-term memory stored inside your brain is just one layer of that.Think of it like a computing architecture, where there are layers of data retention with trade-offs for speed vs reliability vs size. You don't just have a CPU and RAM and a hard drive. A modern computer has various CPU caches, RAM, ssds and rotational drives, possibly combined with offsite storage, cloud storage, tape drives, cdroms and usb sticks.They all have tradeoffs: RAM is pretty fast, but not as fast as CPU cache, but it holds a lot more than cache, but it doesn't hold as much as an ssd, which in turn is a lot slower than RAM, but not as slow as a hdd, and meanwhile can hold a lot more than RAM, but (generally) not as much as that same hdd. You get the most from your computer by understanding these tradeoffs, not by trying to make your ssd do triple-duty as RAM+ssd+hdd.Likewise, optimizing your brain doesn't mean trying to force it to keep arbitrary technical data/concepts only in long-term memory. Instead, you are already doing the right thing by keeping the information distributed across the internet, in books, in the brains of people who you teach and learn from, and knowing how to re-derive logically-deducible concepts from axioms, or rediscover data from first principals using experimentation and trial-and-error.Let your brain do what it does best, which is act as a survival machine optimized for getting mates, finding food, and escaping lions.Don't hamstring that machine by giving it unrealistic goals like "damnit you simply MUST be able to recall all relevant formulae for orbital mechanics and know how to write down the Navier-Stokes and Black-Scholes equations off the cuff and what is the full instruction set for the ARMv8-A architecture."[1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem</a>

itqwertzalmost 3 years ago

Just be honest when talking about these things. No one knows everything, so people will appreciate the humility as well as the eagerness to adopt new tech.Keep refreshing HN to keep up to date, but realize any engineer worth his salt can figure out new tech in a week or two. No need to be an expert.Sometimes, the fate and knowledge of an engineer can be decided by PM ticket assignment. Side projects are good to keep you sharp, but don’t stress. Once you move to management or team lead, you’ll realize that a competent engineer will always deliver results.

lekealmost 3 years ago

I use this <a href="https://zim-wiki.org/" rel="nofollow">https://zim-wiki.org/</a>Take notes. Use the Search feature when you need to dig information out.

tedyoungalmost 3 years ago

I think your question "how do I remember stuff I don't use often" is not a useful question to answer. Why do you need to remember things you don't use often? You don't.Memory is not binary: you will have easier or harder access to things in your long-term memory. Those that you access more often, get easier. Those that you build up more complex structures around (understanding concepts underlying those concepts) make it easier to retrieve.The more you learn and connect information, and generate it (by writing summaries, applying that information, etc.), the stronger that network of information becomes, which means that when you "forget" it (find it hard to retrieve), a quick skim about that topic will bring the whole network of information back to your conscious awareness.If you want to build better knowledge networks in your brain, you have to (re-)generate that knowledge in different forms. Pick a "node" of that knowledge that's a little fuzzy and learn more about it to clarify it. Draw diagrams of how that knowledge fits together.Ultimately, constant retrieval of information, with restructuring and clarifying, will make it easier to get back when you need it.

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wencalmost 3 years ago

I think you're referring to "bicycle skills" [1], that is, skills that you need to pre-learn so that you can call upon them when you need to. (like knowing how to ride a bike on vacation -- you can't learn it on the spot, so you would have needed to have pre-learned it. Swimming is another skill in the same ilk. Languages is another.).For a lot of programmers, SQL is such a skill. Most programmers suck at SQL because they don't use SQL often enough so they forget the syntax and have to recall it from scratch each time they need it. It's a hidden disability in the software development world.The answer is that you have to have learned the skill up to a certain level of proficiency before letting it go. You cannot get there by dabbling each time. There's a minimum threshold after which the skill doesn't simply evaporate from memory and recall is fast. But it takes a certain investment of time and effort.[1] <a href="https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2012/08/01/bicycle-skills/" rel="nofollow">https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2012/08/01/bicycle-skills/</a>

sotualmost 3 years ago

I use flashcards with active recall style learning. There's actually a great app I use called "Active Recall" that sets you up with this - you have to work a bit to get the cards you want but after you can refer back to them easily and it helps with memorization<a href="https://activerecall.com" rel="nofollow">https://activerecall.com</a> is their site

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undowarealmost 3 years ago

A set of three foot pedals: one for screen recordings, another for instant replay, and another for quick voice notes.Usage: mash the leftmost pedal to toggle recording the screen; mash the middle pedal to save off the past 30 seconds of my activity (usually along with me verbally narrating what I'm doing, an oddball habit that has paid dividends thanks to this config) and finally, push-to-talk (drops an .mp3 in the appropriate folder; I usually just have it work the same as the leftmost pedal (i.e. saving an .mkv which just so happens to have user audio) because I'm too lazy to bash-script ffmpeg and OBS is already open.Hardware: I have a tri-pedal set, made by the same manufacturer documented in the 'Vim Clutch' article here on HN (I'm too lazy to go find the URL but it will come up easily in a search.) The pedals are mapped to shortcuts in OBS for the functions described above.Software: OBS Studio, Gnome desktop (NixOS), and Input Remapper. (More on this last one further down.)Caveat: This currently only works under Xorg (not Wayland) because Wayland doesn't let OBS grab shortcuts outside its own window (Wayland is such a Karen.) There's a workaround that I'm working on, but it involves an OBS plugin called obs-websocket and a straightforward bit of Python scripting that I have nonetheless yet to finish, as well as Input Remapper (<a href="https://github.com/sezanzeb/input-remapper" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/sezanzeb/input-remapper</a>) so Xorg it is for now.For bonus points, I made the destination folder the 'attachments' folder in my Obsidian vault. Then I can index them by subject, a task that is surprisingly entertaining, as links from topic pages in Obsidian.Honestly. I don't remember how I thought before. This is the perfect thinking machine.

lolivealmost 3 years ago

To me, you should rewrite your own version of the materials you have used to learn.I do that in Obsidian, a personal knowledge management tool.I copy/paste contente from the web in interconnected notes, and once the contents are no longer in their original form, but transferred into my own read/write notes, I refactor and reorganise them.After a few refactors, some contents from different sources are now next to another in the same text. Or disappeared completely because another source has a « better » explanation. You can draw your own things, or add images from the web.I think this process is a little bit like writing your own Wikipedia article.The funny part is that when you come back to your notes later, you are astonished by the density of information connected together (just like Wikipedia).

znpyalmost 3 years ago

I have a personal private knowledge base, built using mediawiki.It’s easy to add content to and supports code highlighting, images, files and all the nice things you’d see on wikipedia. And has a beautiful skin (template) with gorgeous typography that’s a joy to read.I also use it for tech notes, among the other stuff.

kamrootalmost 3 years ago

I have had the same problem and I worked on it with a workflow of reading something today, making a note of it in a notebook (handwritten works best for me) and revising it the day after. The hand writing part makes me bio-mechanically engage with the material and finally reviewing my notes the next day forces spaced repetition. A nice side-effect is that after a few months when I am just flipping through my notebook I remember something that I had forgotten.I use this for technical webpages that I read, business concepts (e.g. I am reading about `Yule’s Law of Complementarity` or new technical concepts (e.g. NestJS).This works for me and I stumbled upon this workflow for myself after trying out a lot of other things that did not work for me.

kayodelycaonalmost 3 years ago

I leverage technology to replace memory. Details don’t matter if I know a thing exists and I’m good at finding things. Finding things is a far more useful skill to develop than memorization.It is highly unlikely I’ll end up in a situation without cell signal, I carry an iPhone, Kindle Paperwhite, and a cellular iPad Mini (256gb) literally everywhere. (Handbags are awesome.)On the off chance, I’m away from the internet and my kindle doesn’t have a useful book, I have all of Wikipedia and Wikitonary downloaded in Kiwix on my iPad Mini, downloaded PDFs in Dropbox, and a bunch of books in the D&D Beyond app, and videos in Youtube, because why not.Any thing I need to remember is in Apple Notes or Scrivener. (All my research for stories is in a project file.)

q3kalmost 3 years ago

I don’t. If I’m not actively using something then it just gets evicted from cache.I generally remember the difficult/weird parts that made initial learning slow, everything else I just re-learn as needed from the same sources that I used initially.

ilakshalmost 3 years ago

I know this will sound negative but I think the appropriate answer is that you are very misguided.One thing to realize is that rapid technology deployment and improvements mean we must adapt our approach to learning and problem solving if we want to be effective.With the internet and exponential increase in software development tools, the amount of information is massive. And of course, we now have Google and Stackoverflow etc. which are extremely effective ways to solve problems or very quickly refresh your memory on the exact details that are relevant.If you operate as if those things haven't changed, then you will not be effective.

digitalsanctumalmost 3 years ago

Prefer "learning" rather than "remembering." I prefer learning by doing and teaching others which coincide with the best ways to learn something and be held accountable. I don't remember where I first learned about learning but this pyramid gives a quick breakdown of which methods work best for retention [1].[1] The Learning Pyramid: <a href="https://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/02/26/the-learning-pyramid/" rel="nofollow">https://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/02/26/the-learning-pyram...</a>

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dasil003almost 3 years ago

Spend 80% of your time building / practicing, and 20% reading / researching.This doesn't apply to everyone—if your goal is just the pursuit of knowledge then you can disregard this advice. For me though, the satisfaction and the cementing of knowledge comes from its application. Especially as I get older and realize the ephemeral and fleeting nature of body and mind, it just reinforces the need to be in the moment and cultivate focus on doing rather than optimizing against (or fighting!) my human limitations.

epguialmost 3 years ago

When you learn something more in depth, you are less likely to forget it.When you learn other things adjacent to the topic at hand, but related in some way, you’re less likely to forget things as you build more and more of a frame of reference around it.But either way, the key to remembering things for a very long time is spaced repetition. First you need to test your recall after a short period, then after a longer period, etc.Memorization skills isn’t something you’re inherently good or bad at, or are born with: it’s a skill you can absolutely learn!

sbfeibishalmost 3 years ago

I have a Notes folder containing 'subject' text files. Notes/crypto.txt Notes/docker.txt Notes/equity.txt ... anything and everything one day I'll divide them into subfolders Notes/geopolitics/zeihan.txt Notes/programming/languages/rust.txtif a text file isn't good enough, or there needs to be an image embedded, I use other file typesAnd a Documents folder containing 'subject' article files. Documents/Programming/Languages/Rust ...

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spencerchubbalmost 3 years ago

I really don't think there is a way to get around repetition and practice. I am a competitive Rubik's Cube solver, and memorizing algorithms for instant recall is a big aspect for obvious reasons. If I go a couple months, without practicing, I need to brush up on algs.Moral of the story, it is possible to get to the point where stuff is in your memory for a couple months comfortably. But beyond that you will have to do a bit of memory maintenance.

hluskaalmost 3 years ago

I’m old and I do a combination of:1.) Teach things that are really important to me.2.) Google the rest.Sadly, I don’t time to learn everything that I want and if I had the time I wouldn’t be able to retain it anyways.

joeman1000almost 3 years ago

I just don’t. I have to learn 4 subjects a semester, 12 weeks per subject, roughly 5 sub-topics per week. 240 almost useless chunks of info that I have to get examined on every 6 months. I would top myself if I kept it all in memory. I do my best to learn the concepts, then write my brief understanding in a note system (org-roam). I don’t have to remember any of the shit after I’m done with it.

pcbro141almost 3 years ago

Anki spaced repetition software

igetspamalmost 3 years ago

Don't. Let them fade. Reread the docs when you need them. The amount of brain space you'd need to keep rarely used topics fresh is unimaginable. Relearning to ride a bike is easier than learning the first time (unless you've had a stroke). You'll pick it up again. Learn for the sake of learning and let go. All you need to maintain is the references and meta data.

undefinedzeroalmost 3 years ago

I’ve given up staying up-to-date on everything and limited myself to things I can apply or are direct alternatives to technologies I use. Things like Meta’s approach to caching on Facebook and stuff are interesting but only really relevant for less than a dozen people and I reckon a waste of time for most others. If I skip that I can mull longer on the topics relevant for me.

gsaticalmost 3 years ago

Make good friends. The beauty of a university campus is subject matter experts on anything are close by.I used to think that Internet would make this easier but it's not the same as running into friends(with diff expertise) on campus everyday. You share your day to day probs. They share theirs. And connections across knowledge maps stored in different chimp brains happen.

water554almost 3 years ago

I don’t. I blast it all out of my mind with massive amounts of alcohol and cannabis and then look it up as needed.

jti107almost 3 years ago

flashcards works for me..there will be certain technical material that i need to know but not regularly use. i review it once every 1-2 months and i can recall about 80% of the material. the big break through for me was using blank poker cards to make the flashcards. 3-5 card sets can usually cover a books worth of material.in the past i've tried digital apps like anki and quizlet but i'd inevitably get distracted. the point is to come up with a system of review that matches your personality. if you want to remember stuff long term the big supported by science is spaced repetition.the other system that works but is much harder is to teach someone. pretending to teach a class also seems to work...point is to explain it at level that a new person would understand forces your mind to really delve into the topic.

FunnyBadgeralmost 3 years ago

For it I simply need to find them interesting. That causes me to spend time researching or studying them. And that means I have them at my finger-tips for conversation or application.This may include downloading papers or buying textbooks or equipment to hack (when appropriate).

chxalmost 3 years ago

Post it on Stackoverflow. I can't even count how many times I found myself in a situation where I had no idea what was going, googled and found the answer on SO/SE written by myself. Sometimes as recent as two years ago, sometimes a decade ago.

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martin-adamsalmost 3 years ago

I use the Zettelkasten method for tech notes. Even made a video on it a while back if you're interested. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbvEJvTwllk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbvEJvTwllk</a>

k__almost 3 years ago

I search on Google and find my own articles I wrote about those topics in the past.Strange, but funny feeling.

giaouralmost 3 years ago

Take notes, even if you know you can remember the details without doing so. You can always search or refer back to your notes when you need to return to a topic, and I find that just opening the appropriate notebook jogs my memory

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ameliusalmost 3 years ago

The answer is: you don't have to remember it because tech changes too fast.For example, knowing how to configure your network is useless if you only need to do it once every five years because (sadly) the UI will have changed anyway.

scotty79almost 3 years ago

I used to have a personal wiki for technical things I needed once and I might need again.Whenever I learned how to do something new I wrote an instruction for future me with all the key information on how to perform this.

dmitriidalmost 3 years ago

If you don't use it, you forget it. As simple as that. You will even forget your own native language if you don't use it long enough.There's no other option for remembering things other than using them.

ibobevalmost 3 years ago

Take notes about the most important parts of what you learnt. That way when you have to recall a topic you don't have to reread the whole book or tutorial but just your notes.

Slaughterhouse6almost 3 years ago

I take notes in a journal for this type of stuff since the odds are good I will lose the link to whatever it was or the old site will be gone the next time I look for it.

math_dandyalmost 3 years ago

Don’t sweat it. Learning something for the first time is hard and can be very slow. Relearning or refreshing one’s memory is significantly easier and much faster.

salawatalmost 3 years ago

I print them out on paper, then add them to my library. Brain just does the rest.

saagarjhaalmost 3 years ago

By keeping pointers to the content rather than the actual content ;)

atmosxalmost 3 years ago

I am fine re-learning. I believe it’s the optimal strategy.

nsonhaalmost 3 years ago

what is the problem when you brain forgets things that are not important at the time? Your brain is working as designed.

badinsiealmost 3 years ago

my brain determines what is relevant or irrelevant all on its own. the irrelevant stuff for sure gets thrown on the floor.

muskmuskalmost 3 years ago

Anki

tester756almost 3 years ago

jezzI've never been sure which one is which - byte or bituntil I had to use them directly