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753 points domenicd | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.42s | source
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bearjaws ◴[] No.44020922[source]
Spaced repetition has been all the rage for 20 years now.

Dozens of apps, thousands of lectures, and it turns out its not really a silver bullet.

There's nothing really wrong with it, it's just that people tend to fall off the same way they do on any other education pattern.

A couple years ago I was thinking "If Google and Apple really cared about kids they would make a spaced repetition unlock system", where by you have to make note cards every week and then have to answer correctly to get into your phone. (obviously requires some bypass system, other rules, etc)

You could probably jury rig it with a popup that comes up after you unlock, but people would never install it anyway.

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sn9 ◴[] No.44022229[source]
You say that but it's completely revolutionized the way medical students study.

IIRC the effect was so profound they had to modify the structure of some tests or something to that effect.

And polyglots have been using SRS for years.

As always, the real problem when people fail to do something that works is psychological, not technical. I'd say anyone who made an Ozempic for motivation would make a killing, but I believe it's already a scheduled substance. Maybe one without potential for addiction or abuse. Or maybe an Ozempic for conscientiousness.

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1. SchemaLoad ◴[] No.44024837[source]
>I'd say anyone who made an Ozempic for motivation would make a killing

This is just ADHD meds right? That's why the uni students spend so much buying them.

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2. fn-mote ◴[] No.44025362[source]
> This is just ADHD meds right?

Not really. They're just stimulants. Anyway, I'm very skeptical of this use.

I'd guess uni students are buying methamphetamines them because they have gotten themselves into a situation that they cannot handle - too many non-academic scheduled activities, not enough time management skills, possibly a heavy courseload combined with several weeks of avoidance of things they found difficult, poor sleep habits, etc. They need to stay awake and work. I don't think that's all you're talking about, though.

I wouldn't discount the idea that some have an undiagnosed attention deficit problem.