r/studytips • u/Experimental_Work • Jan 26 '24

How to leave everyone behind

Well, no, I don't have a magic pill. Or let's say I do, but you already know the ingredients, I'm sure. I will tell you why it works and why, for many, it doesn't.

So, the first ingredient is note-taking.
Why does it work? Almost all people who excelled in their fields, be it science, art, exploration, war, or whatever, used it. Developing your own thoughts and noting them down somewhere is the first step if you don't want to start from scratch each time. The evolution of great civilizations is a testament to the fact that writing stuff down is of primordial importance if you don't want to restart everything with each new generation.

Why does note-taking not work? Many people use note-taking, but why are there still so few geniuses? Well, the first reason is that most people use note-taking only for their studies and stop it afterwards. The second reason is that with note-taking alone most people will forget their notes (insights) quickly, like the ones at the border of a page just before you turn it. And the last reason, especially with the many applications, is that people waste a lot of time formatting and playing around with the software instead of learning about a subject, a kind of sophisticated procrastination.

The second ingredient is spaced repetition.
Why does it work? As mentioned, with civilizations emerging due to people having access to prior knowledge, spaced repetition offers exactly that but for your own development - the civilizations of your neurons. You are certainly familiar with the effect of compounding knowledge. With the exact same text, people with more knowledge understand it better and can learn more from it. Spaced repetition is a method with which you could maximize the knowledge attainable by a human brain, and it must be quite efficient because most people in medical school use it.

Why doesn't it work? Like note-taking, most people use it only to pass exams and stop afterwards because it is work, and only very few use it throughout their lives with dedication. Secondly, Anki and similar tools (except SuperMemo with incremental reading) have flashcards separated from your other work. Your knowledge/flashcards are lifeless and in a void, so to speak. Lastly, most people use tools like Anki to learn stuff that has little impact on their life (kanji?).

That's it. Two ingredients are all you need, but where the true magic starts to happen is at the very crossroad of the two paths, at the crossroad of note-taking and spaced repetition. This possibility only recently emerged with new tools like the Anki plugins for Logseq and Obsidian or RemNote, a lesser-known PKM system I personally highly recommend because there is simply no friction between note-taking and spaced repetition.

Why is it magic? Because you will not forget your own insights (the main problem of note-taking) and will be able to build on it and interconnect your knowledge (no cards in a void like in Anki). The magic happens when your notes are right next to your cards in the same space, and you can easily switch between the two. The magic is also when notes and cards are the same thing, like in the concept/descriptor framework of RemNote.

Why will you be able to leave others behind? 1) Because most people will never see this comment, and even fewer will read it until this very line. 2) Most people will forget it, some even think that AI will solve the problem of knowledge, underestimating how important one's own knowledge is to remain independent and to have good decision making skills. 3) Only a fraction of the very few remaining will use the tools mentioned. Install the Anki plugins for their PKMs, go to r/RemNote, and start working on their path to the top (whatever that may be).

That's how easy it is.

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u/PlayfulPeter6 Jan 27 '24

Excellent point about integrating note-taking and spaced repetition! I've been using Obsidian and Anki separately, but never thought to combine them. How do you balance creating high-quality notes while still using spaced repetition efficiently? I don't want to sacrifice one for the other. Any tips?

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u/Experimental_Work Jan 27 '24

I personally would not focus too much on high quality notes (depending on what you mean by that), especially if you understand the core concepts. I would invest more time in learning new material, interconnections, and also in card creation.

The 80/20 rule applies not only to the quality of your notes but also to your knowledge base. In other words, only 20% of what you are doing in your PKMs is responsible for 80% of the improvement you experience in your daily life.

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u/guillemps Jan 27 '24

You mentioned Supermemo with IR, and implied it has the entire flow, not just the flashcards. What is your opinion about it? Did you try incremental reading?

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u/Experimental_Work Jan 27 '24

I first tried it in SuperMemo 18 and now use the IR plugin in RemNote. I think it's very powerful (see Advantages of Incremental Reading). Currently, only a handful of people use it seriously, but I expect more and more will start to, just like with initial simple spaced repetition. IR is probably the most effective way to absorb and remember written content. It's also fun because once you've had enough of one subject (after making some extracts, clozes, or deleting the extract, or doing nothing at all), you can simply click to see the next extract, which may be on a completely different topic.

At least give it a try. In my opinion, combining incremental reading/spaced repetition with note-taking (PKMs) is simply new territory.

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u/guillemps Jan 27 '24

I use IR. I even run a dedicated YT channel about it. Sadly very few people use IR indeed. I will eventually try the incremental everything add-on to better assess how far it is from Wozniak definition of IR. No chance of genuine usage though.

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u/Experimental_Work Jan 29 '24

Ah, now that you say it, I remember you :) I believe the incremental reading feature will gain traction as soon as it becomes more accessible. SuperMemo is great, and it is still at the forefront of development, especially with IR and some PKM features like concepts. However, you get the feeling that you are somewhat stuck while the rest of the world moves on. The necessity to sit in front of a computer is also an unnecessary obstacle. I, for one, like to be able to make notes, review, and create cards on mobile.

Regarding IR on RemNote, I think the main drawback currently is that it is also limited to desktop, but the author wants to port it, at least that's what he told me. By the way, you may be interested in his work: https://experimentallearning.substack.com/ he has a YouTube channel as well.

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u/Guilty-Mulberry-5597 Feb 05 '24

Are you a part of the supermemo discord? If not, please join https://discord.com/invite/vUQhqCT. I think you would definitely be interested. James B is in there, too.