I have made the case that with the advent of the internet went
the need to memorize anything. Why worry about memorizing when
I'll never be tested for a grade and can access knowledge nearly
instantaneously? As well, I reasoned, I have probably already
memorized everything I need to. I focused my time instead on
learning thinking techniques, such as Bayesian calculations,
expected value calculations and various things for improving
emotional control. But after reading this a couple months back I
decided to experiment with Anki, a digital flashcard program
which exploits a cognitive phenomenon called the Spacing Effect
by implementing a memorization technique called Spaced
Repetition. The Spacing Effect is the widely observed tendency
for people to recall information better when studied a few times
over a long period than when studied many times over a short
period. Balota et al (2007): Spacing effects occur across
domains (e.g., learning perceptual motor tasks vs. learning
lists of words), across species (e.g