> For example, I only record the correctness of a response, not its subjective difficulty, and I mix in random cards with my study sessions to make it harder for me to guess the answer on the basis of when I'm seeing the card.
Sounds a bit like the Leitner system [1] with respect to recording only Correct/Incorrect responses. One of the reasons I avoided Anki for a long time was that I wanted to be able to answer cards quickly without actually looking at my phone. I ended up using a combination of automatic TTS, bluetooth headphones, and swipe-up/down gestures to indicate my response.
Made it much easier to go through cards while driving or during daily runs with my husky.
Interesting to see the stats here. My total active library size is about the same as the author's (~50k cards), yet I performed less than 100k reviews this past year. That said, my overall retention is a good bit lower (~83%). Wouldn't have expected a 6% difference to make for a 3x higher review load!
1. My algorithm is probably inefficient, and a big Q1 2026 goal is to figure out where the inefficiencies are and (better) to get a better system for addressing and remediating them in an automated way.
2. A lot of my cards were also made in 2025 (and 2024), so I'm probably much farther to the left of you on the learning curve, on average.
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 read the author's attempt to explain why memorization is important, and found myself unconvinced. Of all the things we consider to be "intelligence", memorization of facts seems like one of the least valuable in the Internet-era. That said, I am open to hear some counter-arguments (pro-memorization).
Of course, if you simply enjoy the process of memorizing facts, then no explanation is needed - it is entertainment for you, and comes with a benefit, like enjoying exercising. Otherwise, it does not seem like a remotely optimally productive way to achieve mastery in any field I am aware of, other than being a student who will be tested on fact memorization.
See my other comments here for some of my motivations, but also:
Even in the Internet age, getting the latency from "fast" to "effectively zero" has a lot of value for staying in flow, synethesizing information, etc. Your memory is the ultra-low-latency fact retrieval system you always have. No, you definitely don't want to use it for everything, but it definitely does complement modern tools in important ways.
Yep. There are plenty of activities, skills, hobbies, whatever, where being able to remember something in the moment is very helpful. Sometimes it’s an edge case, maybe it’s a safety thing. You just want to remember whatever it is.
Or, hell, just for conversations, I’d love to better remember insightful things I read about and then promptly forgot.
Are these physical flashcards or virtual, some sort of flashcard software? Definitely writing out 301,432 physical flashcards would be a lot of work, not to mention [kinda] a waste of paper, however many people still like the physical over the virtual; this is me when it comes to reading books.
1. I have a long commute, and I have about 45 minutes of walking per day, during which I like to do my reviews.
2. I've put serious effort into reducing the friction in my software in order to reduce time per review.
3. You've got to do something when you're on the toilet, right?
That sounds nearly perfect for FSRS [1], the default spaced repetition algorithm used by Anki, which aims at estimating the time it takes for memory stability to decline from 100% to 90%. At the estimated 90% stability point, FSRS would require a review, so naturally a mature deck of flashcards would hover between 90-100% stability.
1. As others have said, the idea is to study something before you forget.
2. It's hard to predict when you're going to forget something, so you do wind up studying a bunch of stuff before you really have to. It's a limitation of prediction (and also of the technology as developed so far).
3. It really is pleasant to work to recall things even when you succeed at it. It does "freshen them up" in your memory. And sometimes just the experience of seeing a fact can be pleasant. (A lot of us review familiar things for the joy of it in other domains--movies, etc.)
Yes, different strokes I guess but I can't imagine just using flashcards for random information. And you'd think someone who wrote(maybe vibe coded?) a flashcard program would be calculate that by hand.
I sympathise. I did ~200k reviews in Anki and no idea how many in Renshuu in 2025 for language learning: German, Spanish and Japanese... and I think I got into Anki hell.
For a long time, Anki was really useful for me, it pushed my Spanish and German forward, but now I plan to decrease the number of reviews significantly. I hope to spend no more than 30 minutes per day of flashcards, and the rest of time on immersion.
How do you decide what to immerse yourself in? Do you just search for things independently or do you have a way of selecting content based on your level?
First of all, big kudos for not missing a single day. When I used flashcards in the past, missing even a couple of days led to an avalanche of cards to review.
Since you’ve been so consistent and are using your own software, have you experimented with different resurfacing rates? Did you notice a material difference in recall?
They barely mention why they're even doing this. I see flashcard as a means to something (e.g. learning a language, preparing for a test...). The measured outcome should be the success in task, rather than the number of reviewed cards.
I would have liked to see statistics on study session length eg. average duration. Also how long you typically spend creating per card and how many you created this year.
That information would help us all better assess whether the time spent on a spaced repetition flashcard system is justified
31 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 82.6 ms ] thread> For example, I only record the correctness of a response, not its subjective difficulty, and I mix in random cards with my study sessions to make it harder for me to guess the answer on the basis of when I'm seeing the card.
Sounds a bit like the Leitner system [1] with respect to recording only Correct/Incorrect responses. One of the reasons I avoided Anki for a long time was that I wanted to be able to answer cards quickly without actually looking at my phone. I ended up using a combination of automatic TTS, bluetooth headphones, and swipe-up/down gestures to indicate my response.
Made it much easier to go through cards while driving or during daily runs with my husky.
[1] - https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/study-revision/leitner-syst...
2. A lot of my cards were also made in 2025 (and 2024), so I'm probably much farther to the left of you on the learning curve, on average.
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?
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).
Of course, if you simply enjoy the process of memorizing facts, then no explanation is needed - it is entertainment for you, and comes with a benefit, like enjoying exercising. Otherwise, it does not seem like a remotely optimally productive way to achieve mastery in any field I am aware of, other than being a student who will be tested on fact memorization.
Even in the Internet age, getting the latency from "fast" to "effectively zero" has a lot of value for staying in flow, synethesizing information, etc. Your memory is the ultra-low-latency fact retrieval system you always have. No, you definitely don't want to use it for everything, but it definitely does complement modern tools in important ways.
Or, hell, just for conversations, I’d love to better remember insightful things I read about and then promptly forgot.
That sounds like incredibly boring way to spend time. I'd aim for something like 20% at most. What's the fun in being asked things you already know?
1. https://expertium.github.io/Algorithm.html
1. As others have said, the idea is to study something before you forget.
2. It's hard to predict when you're going to forget something, so you do wind up studying a bunch of stuff before you really have to. It's a limitation of prediction (and also of the technology as developed so far).
3. It really is pleasant to work to recall things even when you succeed at it. It does "freshen them up" in your memory. And sometimes just the experience of seeing a fact can be pleasant. (A lot of us review familiar things for the joy of it in other domains--movies, etc.)
Do this many people use flashcards? Maybe I'm way too old. Probably.
> [...] But, ChatGPT and Gemini both tell me that these effects are not statistically significant, despite having pretty large sample sizes.
Imagine he instead learned how to calculate staristical significance instead so he didn't have to believe AI guesswork.
Since you’ve been so consistent and are using your own software, have you experimented with different resurfacing rates? Did you notice a material difference in recall?
That information would help us all better assess whether the time spent on a spaced repetition flashcard system is justified
https://www.natemeyvis.com/22-reasons-i-did-301432-flashcard...
https://www.encona.com/posts/custom-statistics-for-anki-flas...