Re:Spaced repetition
by jodrellblank on Sunday December 11, 2016 @05:06PM
(#13153640)
No, I meant more "why do you (parent poster) want to remember everything?". OK so hypothetical world where you remember everything ... then what? What's different, why do you want that? Humans don't have the brainpower to make use of memories of everything.
'Having loads of memories' is not exactly the same thing as 'learning more' or 'having clear focus on a goal', or 'intuition', or 'improved decision making', or 'being able to do more things', or 'knowledge', or 'wisdom' - and "I wish I remembered everything" sounds more on the lines of anxiety or hoarding, than a genuinely useful thing to desire.
And that wasn't said in the context of learning a subject, it was in the context of "remembering moment by moment thoughts" and "living well". Specifically, how do you live more-well by remembering what you thought about music one day four years ago when watering some house plants?
How many minor things do you think you've made a mistake over, repeatedly, but never learned a lesson from because each individual time was separated by months so you'd forgotten by the time you do it next?
The answer is, you don't know, because you can't remember any of them.
Re:Spaced repetition
by jodrellblank on Monday December 12, 2016 @12:05AM
(#13155674)
If they weren't bad enough mistakes to remember, how much can they really matter?
Nutritional deficiencies. Aging. Lack of sleep. A variety of diseases. Use of certain drugs (like marijuana).
All of these have been documented to affect memory.
Also, I think one's attitudes towards the past will affect one's memory of it. For example, I am very present- and future-oriented. I rarely dwell on the past or review my day (or my past life in general), I don't keep a journal. I also don't ascribe much importance to most day to day events. As a result (combined with some of the other factors I listed above), I don't really have a great long-term memory. Many of the things in my childhood, and even up to college and beyond are lost to me. Even when I've kept a journal, when I've gone back, I didn't remember many of the things in it. However, I think if I reviewed my journal from time to time, thought about what happened in the past more, or made an effort to remember it, I'd have a better long-term memry. Spaced repetition.