36th anniversary of SuperMemo
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Longevity
Q: As you get older, do you study longevity more?
Woz: Just the opposite. Studying health was my prime interest in the years 1980-1983. It revealed to me the weaknesses of human memory, and laid ground for SuperMemo later on (the actual experiments were done on English vocabulary that I started studying around 1983).
The decrease in priority in the matters of longevity came from:
- better understanding of the need to recycle brains for collective intelligence (before 1985, I thought individual brain need to keep building knowledge indefinitely for better insight into the IVS)
- saturating my knowledge with necessary skills and strategies, which provides an impression "I know all I need to know". By 1990-1991, my main interest in human biology dropped to the status of just one of many areas of interest
- better understanding of the mechanisms behind the unreliability of scientific research. For example, after dozens of studies for and against, I opted for drinking coffee in 1996, and do not see much research that might change my mind
- knowing people like Tom Durrie is an inspiration. He seems to ooze a message: "if you just enjoy your life, you got 30 more years of productive brain time"
My formula for longevity is the exactly as the Formula for a happy life. If I see new data that contribute to my reasoning, I do memorize and internalize, but the pattern does not change much. I may not live long, but I am already settling into a routine well known by centenarians. If you know where I might be wrong, let me know.
Phones vs. Desktop
I was outvoted roughly 1:30 on the matter of the usability of phones.
A user mentioned that he likes to lay on the sofa in the evening. The reclined position seems more suitable for learning. I insisted that my sitting at the desktop position is superior for learning. I was outvoted.
My best learning comes in the early morning. With a natural morning surge of creativity, the only acceptable set up is sitting up straight in front of the monitor with an option to spring to my feet to walk around to settle creative obstacles. That's a typical ADHD behavior with fidgeting and running around. This does not mean I do not use lying flat and lazy for brainwork. However, this fit better a tired state, e.g. after a great deal of sports and late in the evening. Even as I type those words, I use some 10-15 cm of the seat's edge. The subject is exiting. This correlates the creative tension and muscle tension. To me, the need to lie down is an indicator of a natural circadian drop in alertness suitable for the evening.
The group insisted I am just old. I just do not understand modern technology and modern trends. I disagree. I see an increasing number of homeschoolers in Poland whose behavior is closer to mine. They do not use SuperMemo naturally. They play games. However, once the time for (compulsory) learning arrives, they all want to lie flat and claim to be too tired to remember. My sample might be just a few, but that's a strong indicator that passion and alertness are key differentiators here.
Naturally, once we allow incremental reading review on a phone (planned for future SuperMemos), I will experiment with repetitions in a comfy armchair. I will try it in the morning, and in a tired evening. I cannot exclude I might like some aspect of it. I am skeptical though.
Jarrette algoritm
JarrettYe:
I guess Woz misunderstood the FSRS. FSRS is also only optimized for single brain. The benchmark of FSRS runs the optimizer for each collection one by one. So it's not "compound"
Testosterone
Synchronization
ChatGPT
- spaced repetition intertwines with ChatGPT conversations
- dharav's ideas
Open source
Children
- srdjan: what age seems ok to start SuperMemo
Other topics
- Matushchak article
- social media
- talking to kids
- Anki or SuperMemo for Japanese
- social concept network
- school strike involvement
- unexpected visit from Sifaan