I should probably know that

I wrote a few years ago about my fear of unknown gaps in my knowledge, and why that means I’d likely shy away from any opportunity to be on a game show. I think I’d likely perform fairly well, depending on the show, but there’s a chance I would miss an easy question and would become YouTube famous as a result.

As I mentioned back then, there are likely instances on this blog where I publish about a great new concept I’ve discovered, but it’s something you’ve already known about for years. It happens.

I’m trying to correct this kind of thing in my daily life, too. A few days ago, I saw a mention of Mount Rushmore and realized I wasn’t sure who was on it. I sorta knew, but not confidently — but it felt like something that I probably should know, right? So, I made a point to learn it.

In my case, I simply added a quick card to Anki and I’m done. Over the next few days it quizzed me on it a couple of times, and now it’s drifted into my normal cadence of cards and it’ll pop up on occasion so that I’ll always remember it.

I don’t think I can overstate how valuable it is to have a daily process that includes Anki. While I admittedly overdo it (I have a LOT of cards in there), most people could get away with a five minute daily review and likely be able to remember everything they ever feared they’d forget. Memory is a choice, not luck.

For the record, Mount Rushmore includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on November 16, 2022.