"The Value of Being a Creative Weirdo: Augmenting Long-term Memory"

"The Value of Being a Creative Weirdo: Augmenting Long-term Memory"

To some degree, being perceived as strange, odd, weird, or misunderstood is a prerequisite for creative professionals. As I have grown older and wiser, I have learned to embrace and value my perceived weird persona associated with my highly creative and intuitive thinking style.

When it comes to viewing others as different, some people are oblivious to why an individual may express or present themselves in a way that falls outside the scope of social norms. Highly creative people will never truly fit in with the rest of society, which is a good thing. They are the innovators and help push us forward into the unknown. They must never succumb to the social conformity of blending in or becoming who they are not.

To some degree, we must all embrace who we are as unique individuals and focus on maturing our authenticity instead of becoming obsessed with social validation. This is where the concept of augmenting long-term memory comes into play.

The memex vision, which inspired many computer pioneers, including Douglas Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and Tim Berners-Lee, revolves around the augmentation of human intelligence. In this essay, we will explore personal memory systems designed to improve the long-term memory of a single person.

Anki, a popular memory system, brings about a significant change in how we remember things. It transforms memory from a haphazard event left to chance into a deliberate choice. Anki guarantees that we will remember something with minimal effort, making memory a tool at our disposal.

For me, Anki became a habit when I took on a project as a joke. I decided to use Anki to memorize a short book about the Unix command line. This project made learning tedious and difficult information much easier and more enjoyable. The confidence I gained from successfully memorizing the book allowed me to build a strong Anki habit.

Anki is not only useful for memorizing books; it can also be a valuable tool when reading research papers, especially in fields outside our expertise. By using Anki, we can retain a deep understanding of the papers over the long term. However, to maximize the effectiveness of Anki, it is crucial to use it in service to a personal creative project.

When Anki is connected to a creative project, the questions and answers become more emotionally engaging. We care more about the information and therefore have a better chance of retaining it. It's essential to find ways to integrate Anki into our creative endeavors rather than using it solely for hypothetical future use.

When using Anki with research papers, it's important to extract at least five questions per paper. Extracting fewer questions leaves the paper as an isolated orphan in our memory, making it challenging to feel a connection to the information later. Additionally, it's crucial to avoid spending too much time on unimportant papers. Shallow reads of many papers can help identify the key ones without wasting excessive time on less significant ones.

While Anki is a powerful tool, it's important to note that its true value lies in the 5% of features that bring about 95% of its benefits. Merely reviewing Anki cards is not enough to internalize a process fully. We need to apply the process in context and solve real problems using it.

In conclusion, embracing our uniqueness as creative individuals and valuing our weirdness is essential for personal and professional growth. By augmenting our long-term memory through tools like Anki, we can enhance our ability to retain and utilize information. To make the most of Anki, it is crucial to integrate it into creative projects and ensure that we engage emotionally with the questions and answers. Extracting a sufficient number of questions from research papers and focusing on the most valuable features of Anki will further optimize its effectiveness. Embrace your weirdness, augment your memory, and unleash your creative potential.