[satisfice]

Does doing this have utility? What problem does it solve?

Years ago, I memorized 1034 digits of pi just to see what it felt like (reciting pi from memory felt like walking through a forest at night without bumping into any trees). So, there was some value in that experience.

I wonder what this guy gets out of it?

[santoshalper]

I think they just enjoy memorizing things. Roughly the equivalent of meeting someone who runs 10 miles a day. They enjoy it and it has some benefit to their life as well, even though they are probably far past the point of diminishing returns.

[rjh29]

More precisely, enjoys memorizing things but isn't good at it. Professonal quizzers can absorb huge amounts of information but typically don't use flashcards. OP is grinding thousands of cards a day to get to the same level - worthy of respect!

[pessimizer]

> Professonal quizzers can absorb huge amounts of information but typically don't use flashcards.

Professional quizzers almost all use flashcards. Jeopardy! people definitely do. The range of questions that you can ask in a general knowledge quiz are surprisingly limited. You're not going beyond a surface-level overview on anything. Do a ton of general knowledge flashcards for a year and you'll annihilate people at pub quizzes.

I suppose you could just read encyclopedias over and over again, and books of lists.

[rjh29]

Ken Jennings doesn't! I am speculating though so I'll defer to your knowledge here. I was trying to say, for some people it comes naturally. I doubt the majority of quizzers are doing 300k reviews a year.

Reminds me of that guy who "mastered the NYT Crossword" by flashcarding questions/clues. I also learned to do the Saturday consistently - just by doing the crossword every day for a while. You don't always need flashcards.

[Theaetetus]

I'm quite sure you're right and most quizzers are not doing 300k reviews a year. I'm an odd case in a few ways.

[redfloatplane]

> but typically don't use flashcards

Can you elaborate on this? I watch an unhealthy amount of University Challenge and I assumed that the vast majority of contestants would use flash cards as a trivia retention tool. Most people I've met who need to rely on large amounts of accurate but relatively dispersed knowledge (law students, say, or specific historical professions) use flash cards in one way or another. It surprises me greatly that 'professional quizzers' wouldn't. Perhaps _some_ of them wouldn't - I'm sure as with anything there are some who are preternaturally excellent.

[rjh29]

Well, it stands to reason that people who don't need to do flashcards have a competitive advantage and are more likely to become professional quizzers. They might use flashcards in addition, but I get the sense most of them just absorb trivia like a sponge.

[hn_user82179]

I highly doubt professional or even amateur quizzers wouldn't use flashcards. Especially armed with a SRS algo, it would be the most efficient way to learn to quickly recall the type of info needed for quiz bowls

[IncreasePosts]

Roger Craig famously used Anki and was one of the top jeopardy players for a while, and I believe he got some push back from the likes of Jennings and others who thought flash cards were cheap and the only right way to do trivia is "naturally", by just reading a bunch of random shit all the time.

[Theaetetus]

Fascinatingly (to me), some top quizzers (e.g., Yogesh Raut) do not use flashcards. Different strokes...

[Theaetetus]

Indeed! Thanks!

[basscomm]

His homepage says that he likes memorizing things. There is utility in doing something you enjoy for the sake of it.

[BeetleB]

Random example: In my last job I would point out JS language features that would have made my coworker's code more concise and canonical.

I hadn't done any JS coding beyond a few examples from a tutorial.

There's no way I would have retained that knowledge otherwise.

There are many such examples. In general it's extremely useful for retaining things you are not going to develop muscle memory for.

"Memorizing by doing" is great if you're doing often. What if you're not?

[naet]

So you have cards for JavaScript features? What do they look like?

[BeetleB]

Basic stuff like syntax, macros of common functions etc.

[diimdeep]

Very cool, and have you actually used forest as memory palace ? this and chunking + imagery mapped to digits, is what got suggested to me just now by chatbot as technique that memory athletes use; got curious myself but never tried something like this.

[satisfice]

I didn't want to use any suggested techniques to memorize the digits, because I felt like that was cheating. So I developed my own: I found a sequence of irregular rhythms in the numbers, like a succession of short, distinct cheerleading chants at a football game. I piled them on top of each other until they started collapsing under their own weight, which was right around a thousand digits.

I found that when I went through the sequence, each chant felt like a little landmark that I could feel but not see. Hence, the sensation of having blindsight (Google it). When I tried to recite the digits as fast as I possibly could, my head started hurting as if I were being struck my tree branches.

[Theaetetus]

1. I enjoy it.

2. I like trivia competitions.

3. I like making and using my own software.

4. Memorizing facts is an underrated way to become a better software engineer. Not the best way or even close to the best way, but an underrated way!

5. It enriches my experience of the world (I plan to write more about this soon).