R/Slatestarcodex - Things Worth Memorizing?

@created:: 2024-01-31
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@ref:: R/Slatestarcodex - Things Worth Memorizing?
@author:: reddit.com

2024-01-31 reddit.com - RSlatestarcodex - Things Worth Memorizing

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Have you ever looked back at your day and found you've either omitted to do something, or did something dumb? This is a case of not knowing something: not knowing what should be done when; not knowing what should be avoided and put out of sight; not knowing the reasons why certain things are important. This is an area where memorization has unrecognized importance. If you can memorize the specific reasons why certain actions are important (exercise, diet, working hard, whatever), and if you can memorize them so well that they can be called to mind in a second, then you're much less likely to get off track or have a momentary lapse in judgment.Sounds weird, but here's an example. Let's say you want to lift weights. You keep putting it off during the day, but before bed you always think how you really ought to look into lifting weights. Well, why is this important, hyper-specifically? Because weightlifting will give you more energy, because it will make you more attractive to the opposite sex, because it's pleasurable in its own right, because you feel shamefully weak carrying groceries to your apartment, because it increases confidence, because it's good for your mind, because it will improve your quality of life in old age, because you get to feel like Spongebob, and because it will improve your mood. These are, like, ridiculously good reasons. But they're 100% useless if they are not memorized and called upon when required. You have clarity of mind at night, but you don't have clarity of mind when you get home from work exhausted. So how can memorization help here?What you need to do is create a solid memory of a heightened emotional state that moves you to your intended action. You need to be so good at recalling it that recollection honestly takes less than 5 seconds. It can't be a mere "oh I wanted to exercise", in fact it can't be words at all. You need strong emotional visualization, where visualization entails all forms of sensation. So, in this example, you need to imagine how great it would feel to have the energy to fulfill all your obligations and do all your hobbies -- imagine how it would feel to have finished all your obligations and are now taking guilt-free pleasure in some hobby. And imagine that you are now more attractive to the opposite sex, and the attention that this warrants you (thinking of a specific member of the opposite sex would be helpful). And imagine the feeling of putting down the last weight at the gym and feeling that unique rush of energy and accomplishment. And imagine being at work and feeling like you've earned the right to sit down for 8 hours, all the while your ability to focus is exceptional. And imagine you're an old person looking back at your life, next to a frail old person whose bones have degenerated. Perhaps imagine yourself 4 months from now, pitying you and encouraging you to lift, or imagine yourself the night after lifting feeling glorious and satisfied and guilt-free, your muscles pleasantly exhausted, your mind free of anxiety and ready for deep sleep, knowing you'll wake up feeling great. You need to figure out yourself personally what the most poignant emotional reason is.If you perfectly memorize a poignant visualization, you will be able to call upon the emotional memory when required (fatigued, discouraged, hungry, etc). There's no reason why this couldn't be done using Anki. You can also add helpful media to the Anki card, e.g. a video of Arnold Schwarzenegger or a description of your visualization.
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If you're missing important information from conversations, then I'd recommend finding a way to extract the information and "symbolize" it into memory. For this I'd recommend mnemonics. If someone tells you that Bill needs to be picked up at 8pm at the library, you can imagine a Billy goat standing on a magic eight ball in front of a library. This is how I go about memorizing names: I create a "character" using the person's face, so that someone named Barbara would appear to me as a Barbarian, and someone named Edward I might imagine as the cartoon Squidward.
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if, over your lifetime, you will spend more than 5 minutes looking something up or will lose more than 5 minutes as a result of not knowing something, then it’s worthwhile to memorize it with spaced repetition.
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Another rule of thumb is the 'rule of 3': if you've forgotten or messed something up 3 times, then it may be time to make a bunch of cards to reinforce it.
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Memorize Jokes, fallback topics of conversation, scripts for small talk, cues for planned statements, lists of stories and outlines of how they go (use a palace for these not anki), etc. You do this already unconciously when interacting with people. Social interaction is often insanely repetitive. You might as well consciously choose what your preplanned dialogue will be.
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