Hacker Remix

Ask HN: Why don't you use spaced repetition to learn, despite its effectiveness?

5 points by AndyIsBuilding 17 hours ago | 17 comments

Spaced repetition is widely regarded as an effective method for learning and retention [0]. And articles about spaced repetition often perform well here [1][2], which suggests a lot of you find it interesting. Yet, it seems like an even larger group don’t incorporate it into their learning process.

I’m curious to understand why. If you’ve heard of or tried spaced repetition but decided not to use it, what led you to that decision?

Was it too time-consuming, did it not fit your learning style, or was there some other factor at play? I’m hoping to go beyond the simple "I didn't know about it" or "it doesn't work for me" answers to better understand the practical barriers and perceptions.

[0]: https://consensus.app/results/?q=Is%20spaced%20repetition%20an%20effective%20way%20to%20learn%20and%20retain%20information%3F%20&pro=on

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13151790

[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35511357

keiferski 14 hours ago

I use Anki (the most popular SRS program) daily and recommend to anyone that will listen. But I think there are three points worth making about it:

1. Many people use SRS without realizing it. Many language learning apps just build the principles of spaced repetition into the software without explicitly mentioning it. As such, it's worth remembering that the spacing effect is a scientific phenomenon, while spaced repetition is the implementation of tools to apply it, typically via spaced repetition software (SRS.)

The concept of the spacing effect seems pretty straightforward and easy to understand, but for whatever reason there is a gap between that and the "optimal" method implemented by SRS apps.

2. The software tends to be ugly and/or too complicated to use. I like Anki and appreciate the developer making it so accessible, but let's be honest: it looks like a piece of software from 1995. This scares away a lot of people that would otherwise be interested (I have personal experience with this, unfortunately.)

3. The recurring meme that "SRS is only for memorization, and I don't need to memorize things / memorization is an outdated learning method." This has been argued against (and debunked, IMO) multiple times, but the meme persists.

I suppose this is a failure of those marketing SRS to effectively teach interested parties more about memorization and why it's so critical for learning, because every time a topic comes up about Anki/SRS, this same debate appears, every time.

dgunay 3 hours ago

I use it for learning vocabulary, but I haven't really applied it to other kinds of learning. I've thought about using it for physical skills like learning to tie important knots for climbing, but the extra bit of friction with involving equipment puts me off the idea.

marssaxman 15 hours ago

I understand it as a technique for memorization, which is not a form of learning I ever have much need for.

throwaway1114 16 hours ago

There is a limit of how much time You can spend on repetition daily and how much cards brain is able to remember. Preparing cards is big overhead, using cards by other people usually is not recommended.

tugberkk 14 hours ago

Can get help from LLM for card generation.